


Frank Sinatra in a Lowball Glass

by euphoria814, pointysparkles



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, 30-Day Fic Meme, Alpha Steve, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Danny isn't a cop, F/M, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hawaii 5-0 Week, Hawaii 5-0 Week 2016, M/M, Omega Danny, Omega Verse, Past Mpreg, Translation, blind, businessman Steve, stellarmeadow challenge, stellarmeadow prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-08-19 19:28:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 49,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8222245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphoria814/pseuds/euphoria814, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pointysparkles/pseuds/pointysparkles
Summary: “Daddy’s not going to be a policeman for now,” he admitted, though he would have liked to be able to say otherwise.
Grace looked truly shocked.
“Why not?” she asked instantly.
She seemed outraged.
And then understanding dawned on her face.
"Are they not gonna let me be what I want either, when I grow up?” she worried.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Frank Sinatra w niewysokiej szklance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6383221) by [euphoria814](https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphoria814/pseuds/euphoria814). 



> Written by euphoria814 in the original Polish, translated into English by pointysparkles.
> 
> Feedback in regards to the translation would be much appreciated.

Danny looked at the name of the club, which doubtlessly lit up in bright neon at night, beckoning in customers. Fortunately it was the middle of the day, and though the street wasn’t empty, it made him feel a little better. He rubbed his face, still considering his options, but the Captain of the HPD had made it quite clear that despite the law in Hawaii, he wasn’t going to hire an unbonded omega. Which meant that all of his plans had fallen apart on the very first day of his internment in this hell.

Rachel and Stan had no doubt known about the situation from the very beginning, and their silence on the subject was telling. He shouldn’t be surprised that his ex-wife didn’t want him nearby.

His grip tightened on the few pages of disarrayed print-outs that made up his resume. He hoped whoever was in charge of hiring here didn’t read too closely. This was the only job posting that had caught his eye that day, and in New Jersey he would have doubtlessly dismissed it with a laugh, not even considering it an option, but this was Honolulu in the middle of the tourist season, where all the vacancies in the hotels were reserved months in advance. It was a miracle he had managed to find the cubicle which Grace was now supposed to call home.

If there was a bright side to the situation, it was that at least the club didn’t look like a brothel. Though Danny could have been wrong, since Hawaii and New Jersey were separated by an unbreachable chasm. Not just thousands of miles of ocean and continent. He got the impression that the mentality of the locals was seriously removed from the norm. He hadn’t seen this many naked bodies since his college reunion, when the members of one of the fraternities decided to throw a party in the classical style, and the sheets which they had tied around their hips had slipped down, one by one, during the course of the night’s drunken shenanigans.

He was too old to become a stripper. Even if the majority of the island’s population was made up of exhibitionists.

He straightened his tie, not knowing what he was praying for the most. The job listing didn’t mention details like age or general appearance. And maybe in New Jersey he had a certain appeal, but this nudists’ paradise had cemented his certainty that there was a considerable disparity between the appearance of Hawaiians and the rest of the world’s population. He in no way resembled the slim waitresses you saw around, and he didn’t altogether want to work in a nightclub. He’d thought his moonlighting days were long over. But he didn’t think he had any other choice.

He turned the door handle, before he could talk himself out of it.

***

The girl who he talked to could have been his daughter. Or at least that was the impression he got, because her face was hard to read. He definitely hadn’t expected the wide smile and sincere interest. She even asked about the time he had spent in the Police and at the Academy. A life he wouldn’t be going back to.

“I’m sorry for asking, but are you the manager?” he inquired.

Kono was an omega, and if she had managed to make it this far, she had his sincere congratulations. It had undoubtedly cost her a lot of hard work and determination. The law still didn’t give them a lot of options, but at least people acknowledged their natural talent for organization. Which Danny happened not to possess.

“Oh, no,” said Kono, and her smile thinned a little. “We’ve had some staffing problems. The owner let the manager go.”

He raised his brow, not intending to comment, but she laid his documents down on the table, apparently concluding the first part of the job interview.

“We have a lot of omegas working in the club,” Kono admitted. “The manager was an alpha. His behavior…” she trailed off suggestively, and he immediately got the gist of the issue.

Maybe he had tried to use his status to influence the rest of the workers, which wasn’t pleasant. Danny himself had witnessed a few such situations, and he would rather not revisit them even in his memories. His skin still crawled at the thought.

“The owner listened to our complaints. We’re currently looking for someone to fill the position,” the girl continued. “Maybe they’ll transfer somebody over from the hotel.”

“The hotel?” he asked, and swallowed heavily despite himself.

Up to this point he hadn’t noticed anything suspicious, but the club was empty. They conducted a lot of different business in these kinds of places. And his experience as a police officer was telling him that any more questions might be unwelcome. Kono didn’t let on whether she was interested in hiring him, or even in passing on his information further. What money he had managed to save back in New Jersey would last him at most through the next week and a half, assuming Grace didn’t have any unexpected expenses. And he really didn’t want to ask Rachel for help after everything that had happened.

The prices in this hell were freakishly high.

“Steve is the owner of a few hotels on the island, this club, and a couple of sporting goods stores. We have employee discounts,” Kono explained. “I’ll give you the addresses, if you’re interested in buying a surfboard and so on. Steve has the best ones.”

He froze.

“Am I hired?” he asked, unsure how he felt about it. 

Kono’s smile grew even wider.

“Of course,” she said. “How could I not hire a cop! Do you swim?” 

He shook his head no.

***

Grace helped him arrange her things on the few shelves with which the apartment was furnished. The only bedroom was quite small. He had hope that he’d be able to find a better job before it became a problem, one which didn’t require him to surrender half his salary to a babysitter. It would have been easier if his mother or sister lived nearby. Giving Grace back to Rachel, after he had spent over half a year fighting for custody, was just asking for trouble, for which he was prepared neither mentally, nor - more to the point - financially.

“Danno,” began Grace, taking out another teddy bear.

He didn’t know how she had managed to pack so many toys. Rachel had even more luggage, and undoubtedly one of her maids had unpacked everything weeks ago, while waiting for them to arrive. He shouldn’t have ever left New Jersey, but he didn’t have a future there as a cop. Here at least they’d given him a shadow of a hope, only to take it back that very same day.

His dress uniform mocked him from the living room.

“When are we gonna go to the beach?” asked Grace. 

Which was another thing he’d been dreading. He hated sand almost as much as he did Stan. Grace, however, seemed to love water, and he knew Rachel was going to take her to the most amazing places she could find. Maybe even while throwing away the money he didn’t have. The rational part of his brain knew that you couldn’t buy love, but Grace was eight years old. Explaining to her the difference between him and Stan wouldn’t be possible for a few more years. And he wasn’t sure he’d have the strength for it.

“Later today, sweetheart,” he answered, folding another of her shirts. “How was school? Did you meet anyone interesting?”

Grace shrugged her shoulders.

“I miss Stacy,” his daughter admitted.

“I know, sweetheart, but you’ll make new friends,” he encouraged.

She didn’t look convinced.

“Did we have to move,” she moaned, but apparently she wasn’t expecting an answer to a question she’d asked so many times before. “I know Mom wanted to live here, with…” she trailed off, letting out a long sigh.

Talking about Stan didn’t come easy to her, and maybe he had something to do with that. But he didn’t intend to hide his own reluctance just so Rachel could feel good about herself.

“When are you going to go back to work?” she asked, blunt as always.

He bit the inside of his cheek and straightened up a little.

“Daddy’s not going to be a policeman for now,” he admitted, though he would have liked to be able to say otherwise.

Grace looked truly shocked.

“Why not?” she asked instantly.

She seemed outraged.

And then understanding dawned on her face.

“Are they not gonna let me be who I want either, when I grow up?” she worried.

“No, monkey. Daddy’s an omega. You’re an alpha. You can be whoever you want. Maybe not a pearl diver,” he added, just in case, but Grace didn’t even smile at his joke.

He really hadn’t wanted to explain to her, those few month ago, why he’d had to leave his job. Why they had forced him to change his lifestyle and move back in with his parents. Especially since Grace had loved to brag at school, that her dad caught bad guys and put them in jail. And he’d be lying if he said it hadn’t been a source of satisfaction, that he was his daughter’s private hero.

“I don’t like this,” she replied.

“Me neither, monkey,” he admitted, “but think of it this way: Danno found a new job, one that means we’ll be able to spend the whole afternoon together. I’ll be home when you get back from school. I’ll drop you off and pick you up,” he promised her, and smiled slightly when her eyes grew wide as saucers.

“Really? Every day?” she asked.

“Every day that your mom doesn’t pick you up,” he clarified.

“Mom and Step Stan,” she added, in a tone of voice that he’d never liked.

***

He hadn’t known what to expect from his first day on the job. Kono turned out to be one of the waitresses, and when she introduced him to the rest of the workers on his shift, he was surprised there weren’t any alphas in the place. Chin, an inconspicuous beta, stood by the doors to the club along with Kamekona, who looked like the funniest guy in the world. He’d expected the bouncers to look more threatening, but the local reality really did differ a lot from New Jersey.

Kono was wiping tables along with Max, who spent the whole time mumbling something about chemical formulas. Danny wasn’t even very surprised when it turned out that most of the staff was made up of students a good decade younger than him. He was very glad his shirt was buttoned all the way to the top. He’d let Grace fix his tie before he’d left, while he’d said his goodbyes and left last-minute instructions for the babysitter. 

Lori, the other bartender, explained the situation to him over the course of a few minutes. Evidently the club was one of the most popular in the city. He wasn’t surprised. When the lights turned on, the interior gained definition. The dark walls were decorated with local symbols whose meaning he didn’t know, but they lent an air of mystery to the place, which was no doubt their primary purpose.

He looked at the wall of alcohol behind him for a few long minutes. He knew the basic cocktails, and there was a copy of a recipe book for the more exotic ones by each of the three workstations. Normally they were supposed to work with barely any space to move in, but it was the middle of the week, so there were only two bartenders on shift. Danny was glad Kono had decided to get him started on a less crowded day. He still remembered how chaotic these kinds of places could be, and adrenaline started to flow in his veins. He didn’t want to think about how he still hadn’t received any employment agreement to sign, nor about his future salary, which they hadn’t discussed, since Kono was just in charge of weeding out applicants. He didn’t know how many younger and maybe better-looking people were competing for his position.

“Are you nervous?” asked Kono, walking up to him with a tray.

“Yeah,” he admitted, compulsively straightening his tie.

“You could have left that at home,” she said.

“I like to look professional at work,” he replied.

At any kind of work. Even one that was so far beneath his qualifications. Work which he needed in order to survive here for even just the next few weeks. And maybe his face gave away a little more than he would have liked to admit, because Kono smiled at him encouragingly, as if she’d figured him out in that exact moment. Though it wouldn’t be hard. They were both omegas, so she must have been through the same kinds of things as he had. Or maybe she was just getting to the point where her life was supposed to depend on the whim of the person to whom she would carelessly tie herself.

He didn’t mention having a child, because that would have been shooting himself in the foot. He had to at least pretend to have an open schedule, hoping that Grace wouldn’t get sick before he signed a contract. And later, that doctor’s bills don’t tank his fragile financial situation. Rachel promised to pay alimony for the kid, but that money could cover only a fraction of the cost of living on this hellish island filled with tourist traps. He wasn’t even sure whether he’d gotten suckered into paying too much rent. But he was sure that there was an actual brothel on the next block over. A cheap one. Living in that neighborhood shouldn’t have cost that much.

“You look very nice,” replied Kono. He couldn’t remember the last time anybody had said something like that to him. When it didn’t sound like mockery or a cheap pick-up line. He smiled, because apparently the girl was trying with all her might to cheer him up, and he wasn’t enough of an asshole to not pretend, at least for a moment, that she had succeeded. But Kono saw right through him.

“You never told me why you moved here from New Jersey,” she offered casually.

He saw Max pause nearby. Danny had long lost any trace of his wedding band, but at his age every unbonded omega had at least one relationship behind them - one which hadn’t ended well. He was quite a bit older than them, and they looked at him as if he held all of life’s secrets in the palms of his hands.

“I needed a change of scenery,” he replied.

And it wasn’t altogether a lie.

***

Chaos didn’t even describe half of what was going on in front of the bar. People yelled out orders, and Lori served cocktails with a speed which terrified him. His shirt was stained with alcohol, but he was sure the girl had also spilled more than one drink on herself. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to serve glasses filled with liquid while trying to avoid trouble. The few omegas who came in with their partners stayed far away from the crush and havoc of the crowd. Girls who were younger even than Kono moved their hips on the dancefloor in a way he could only call obscene. He promised himself that Grace would never go out to a nightclub. Over his dead body.

Not too long ago he would have checked the id’s of those girls, but Chin and Kamekona did good work at the doors, turning away those who were underage, as well as people who they just didn’t want inside. He wouldn’t have expected the screening to be so vigorous, but Kame even had a guestlist in his hand, and the VIP section was filled to the brim with kids who were doubtlessly drinking away the money of parents who were too rich and too busy to check what their precious offspring were up to. A few people commented on his age, but he just looked at them until the little shits backed off, deciding they’d rather be served by Lori. The amount of tips he received was still enough to make him feel better.

Like he’d expected, after he managed to live through the first two hours, he could recognize the setup of the glasses at the bar and the most commonly served alcohols without even looking at the bottles. He got into a rhythm, dividing his time between the customers ordering directly at the bar and the requests for cocktails that Kono yelled out. Lori smiled at him each time he helped out on her side of the bar. A few larger orders gave them problems, since the assholes from the VIP section wanted something exotic. To him all these nasty pineapple-themed drinks sounded strange and extravagant enough.

“They want something special,” said Kono, and she seemed truly pissed off this time. He didn’t even ask which table it was for. She had switched sections with Max, who had previously switched with Charlie. Danny could have sworn that the group was yelling louder even than the music, which was already much too loud for him. 

“I’ll make them something from New Jersey,” he said, not even reaching for the recipe book that Kono and Lori had been looking through.

He hated how much alcohol alphas were able to pour into themselves. But it was good for profits, which paid for his salary, so he held his tongue. You didn’t offend the customers, which was no doubt why Kono smiled widely and insincerely at the assholes each time she served them another round of drinks.

“Seriously?” the girl asked, doubt written all over her face.

“I really did work as a bartender for a few years while in college,” he said, busying himself looking for the bottle of mixed lemon and syrup that he’d seen just a few minutes ago. 

“Hey! Shorty! How long am I supposed to wait for my drink?” yelled someone behind him.

“Until I grow taller,” he barked.

The burst of laughter behind him calmed him down a little. He didn’t want to make a bad impression, but these idiots were really irritating him. He wasn’t used to being treated this way. His badge and uniform had protected him. He hadn’t known how much until he’d lost them.

“You’re the ugliest omega I’ve ever seen,” said the same asshole who’d called him ‘shorty’.

“I’m still not interested in you,” he replied, not missing a beat. The guy was surprised, probably not expecting a response. If he was trying to hurt Danny’s feelings, he should have tried much harder. Rachel could have even given lessons, preparing the crowds to torture him. She still had a lot of ammunition, though he had thought that he’d lived through everything during the divorce.

He mixed gin with Blue Curacao and the lemon mixture, which he’d finally found, quickly filling several glasses. Kono looked truly surprised.

“It’s called a Frank Sinatra,” he added.

“He sang about New York,” replied Kono.

“But he was _from_ New Jersey,” he said proudly.

He didn’t add that the drink originated in Philadelphia. He doubted any of those assholes would know anything about it, anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys can thank Hurricane Matthew for the quick update. On the other hand, if you never hear from me again, you'll know who to blame. ;)

Grace was asleep when he returned home in the early hours of the morning, stinking of alcohol and cigarette smoke. He hadn’t pulled an all-nighter like this since college. He dragged his feet to the small bathroom, wanting to wash off the stink of all the people he’d incidentally come into contact with. Though the tips he’d received had improved his mood a little bit, they were a drop in the ocean of what he needed. The babysitter had left as soon as he’d returned. They’d practically passed each other in the doorway. The teenaged omega hadn’t even spared him a glance, maybe glad that her main job consisted only of staying in his apartment while he was gone. Grace slept like an angel, but it was her third night in an unfamiliar space, and even though so far nothing had disturbed her dreams, tonight could have always been the first time.

He collapsed on the futon without even unfolding it. He had maybe an hour of sleep ahead of him before his alarm was supposed to wake him up, in time for Grace to go to school. He hadn’t bought a car, and with the prices on the island, he doubted he’d be able to save up even for some sort of junker. Undoubtedly it cost to have them shipped out from the mainland, but Hawaii seemed like a place intended only for the rich and beautiful.

He couldn’t remember how many times somebody had insulted him tonight, and maybe he’d have believed every one of those alphas, if he hadn’t also sensed their interest. If they wanted to put him down so that his standards would lower - then he’d congratulate them only on their childishness. He was five feet five inches tall, and he’d lived through high school, college, the police academy, and divorce. He didn’t think anybody could break him. And he didn’t doubt that he’d be able to find someone for a night, who wouldn’t bother to call afterwards. For now he was a curiosity. His foreign accent stood out from the crowd, and his difficult personality seemed to draw interest. That hadn’t been his intention, but you couldn’t plan everything in life.

His alarm sounded much too soon, and Grace jumped up on top of him, hitting him in the ribs with her knees.

“Monkey,” he moaned.

“Sorry, Danno,” she chirped, only cuddling up to him closer. He could hear her inhale with her little nose, but he hoped she wouldn’t smell even a drop of alcohol on him. His clothing was resting safely in the washing machine, waiting to be washed. He hadn’t brought a lot of things with him from New Jersey, but fortunately everything should dry quickly in this heat.

“Are you trying to kill your poor, old dad?” he asked, pulling her underneath the blanket.

They barely fit on the small futon. He should probably unfold it before he laid back down to sleep. He planned to make up at least a few hours before Grace came back from school.

“Are you gonna make pancakes for breakfast?” his daughter asked uncertainly.

He hadn’t managed it up to this point, but he tried every morning. He didn’t burn them. They just wouldn’t flip over, and his kitchen here was connected to the living room, meaning his bedroom, which didn’t give him a lot of room for mistakes. He didn’t want to burn down the whole building. Maybe he should have listened to his mother when she’d said that everyone needed to know how to cook at least one meal, just in case.

He know how to make coffee.

Grace was still too small for caffeine.

“Of course,” he replied, getting up, though his muscles protested sharply.

***

Rachel was waiting for him in front of Grace’s school building. Stan wasn’t visible anywhere nearby, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t sitting in one of the cars with the tinted windows. Grace seemed overjoyed to see her mother, and he couldn’t fault her. After all, the scope of Rachel’s betrayal hadn’t included his daughter, only their marriage.

“Off to school with you, sweetheart. I need to talk to your dad,” said Rachel, smiling widely. “We’ll see each other after class, alright?”

“I was planning to take her to the beach,” he began. “I thought you’d be planning something for the weekend…” He didn’t even finish, because Rachel was already turning towards him with an expression that didn’t bode anything good. Still, she waited until Grace walked into the building with the other students. 

“Stan and I have decided it would be better for Grace to live with us,” the woman informed him.

He felt like laughing, but he didn’t possess the energy to do so. He mostly wanted to go back home and just lay back down to sleep, but Rachel was looking at him as if she was actually waiting for his reaction.

“That’s amazingly nice, that you and Stan decided that Grace should live with you,” he mocked. “The court decided that Grace is going to live with _me_. Since, you know, I’m her father, and I’m the one who gave birth to her,” he growled, rubbing his face. “What the hell, Rachel? I thought we were past this.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Stan told me what kind of neighborhood you live in,” the alpha replied.

“Grace has everything she needs, and our home address shouldn’t concern you,” he said shortly.

“You don’t have a job,” she added, and apparently she was using previously prepared arguments, because she didn’t even twitch an eyelid.

He closed his hands into fists and bit his lip.

“Did you plan this? Did you drag us here just to take her away from me?” he asked bluntly.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she repeated stubbornly. “Danny, you can’t raise her by yourself.”

“The court gave you weekends,” he reminded her. “You didn’t even want her,” he added.

Rachel didn’t even twitch, but to be honest, he used that argument every chance he got.

“They didn’t accept you back on the force. How long are you going to drag this out?” she asked, ignoring his bait.

He didn’t even ask how she knew. Apparently Stan had pulled a few strings. Or else she’d known from the beginning that his plan wasn’t going to work. He wouldn’t even be surprised.

He had expected Rachel to wait at least a couple of weeks - to give the bills and stress a chance to eat at him - before she tried to take Grace away from him. Maybe running back to New Jersey wouldn’t be the worst idea, but nothing waited for him there. And he didn’t want to end up a lonely omega on his parents’ couch, without a job or prospects. With a daughter who never saw her mother.

“I have a job,” he said.

He felt a short-lived flash of satisfaction at Rachel’s surprise. He still hadn’t signed an employment agreement, but maybe he would work that out with Kono. He didn’t know what his ex-alpha was planning, but he knew he could expect another lawsuit at any moment. Grace lived with him under strictly delineated conditions. He had to be able to present proof of employment, and the local police department had really thrown a wrench in his plans. He didn’t know how fast the courts worked on this island, but he didn’t want to find out.

“You have a job,” Rachel repeated after him slowly, as if she was trying to tell whether he was lying.

“I have a job,” he said curtly, “and if you want to see Grace this afternoon, meaning during a time when you don’t have visitation, then you’ll do it on my terms,” he added. “We’re going to the beach.”

He left before she managed to add anything else. They were already attracting too much attention, and he didn’t want anyone to associate them with Grace. He didn’t feel up to butting heads with the whole world, and he really didn’t want his daughter to have to take up her own fight while deprived of her friends, in a foreign city, and still frightened by what had happened to her family.

***

He’d slept for a few hours, but didn’t feel as rested as he should have. Grace’s things took up almost all the shelves, so he simply hung up his shirts on a few hangers. The rest he left in the suitcases by the walls, leaving more space in the middle of the living room. They’d barely unpacked anything, and the place already looked cluttered, which couldn’t look good in the eyes of whoever they’d send over to make sure he was fulfilling the court’s conditions.

But at least Grace had her own room. He’d taken care to make sure it was comfortable, and he planned to paint the walls as soon as he got the lay of the land. Kono might even be able to give him the addresses of some stores that wouldn't try to rob him.

His phone spat out a single reminder about the time at which he should show up for work. And he felt a little more at ease. He hadn’t been sure they would hire him, or even that they’d want to see him again, but apparently he’d passed the test. Maybe he’d even hint at Kono something about a permanent agreement. He really didn’t want to find out that all of those students were getting paid under the table. He needed to have insurance, one which covered both himself and Grace. And a steady income, that the court would deem sufficient.

He wasn’t even surprised that Rachel showed up in front of their daughter’s school accompanied by Stan. Clearly she was trying to get back at him for forcing her to stick to the agreement they’d come to in accordance with the will of the court. Rachel had expected a verdict in her favor, but he was the one who had carried their daughter for nine months, which had surprised even his own lawyer. Female alphas usually handled pregnancy personally, and the fact that he was nominally Grace’s mother tipped the scales in his favor. No doubt Rachel hadn’t counted on that when she’d thrown it in his face that if he wanted to start a family so badly, he could just as easily be the one to get pregnant, instead of demanding that she give up her career.

But apparently she’d changed her mind and now wanted everything: their daughter and professional advancement both.

Stan seemed as tense as always, and they didn’t look at each other when Grace ran out of the doors just after the bell. He breathed easier when he noticed she was surrounded by a small crowd of girls her age. She was even smiling, at least until her gaze fell on Stan. Danny didn’t hear her say goodbye to her friends, but she threw herself at him, jumping from the bottom step, which had become their tradition, in a way, ever since the first day when she’d tripped accidentally and he’d caught her mid-flight.

“Danno! Today Mrs. Kerr told us about all the creatures we can find at the beach!” she yelled. “We’re gonna go, right?”

“Of course, monkey. Mommy’s going to come with us,” he added, detaching her from around his neck.

“Aren’t you going to say hello to Stan, sweetheart?” asked Rachel, her tone of voice as careful as always.

Grace didn’t accept the beta, after being raised by the two of them. And she was a little too big for them to pretend that everything was alright. She knew well who had ruined her family. And maybe Danny didn’t speak up on the subject, leaving the problem for Rachel to deal with. He wasn’t crazy about the guy, and he definitely didn’t intend to lie to his own daughter by arguing in his defense and claiming everything was alright.

“Hi,” said Grace. “Are we going to go now?” she asked, looking at Danny again. And then a little more suspiciously at Rachel, as if she suspected they wouldn’t make it to the ocean after all.

“That’s the plan, monkey,” he replied simply.

***

Rachel squeezed Grace’s shoes in her hands. He carried her backpack himself, trying not to let her out of his sight. For now she was just looking for seashells in the sand, but she’d wanted to go into the water earlier. He wasn’t planning on swimming today. He’d just wanted to visit the nearby beach and check whether the tourists really occupied the whole coast. He needed space to play with his kid. Maybe he was a little paranoid about keeping an eye on her, but she was everything that he needed to live.

“We’ll spend the whole weekend on Maui,” Rachel informed him. “I want Grace to get used to Stan.”

He’d already managed to notice that. Stan had been buying the kid presents since before they’d even left New Jersey. She accepted them, but she prefered her old toys. There was a certain primitive part of him that was happy that Grace didn’t accept the beta. On the other hand, he knew they were heading towards the inevitable. Stan was Rachel’s husband. Rachel was Grace’s mother. The picture was complete. He didn’t try to fit himself into it, yet their own marriage had looked a little like that, too. Maybe if he’d seen how badly they fit together, he wouldn’t have fought for it from the very first moment.

“Okay,” he said. “Try to have her back on Sunday. Monday is a school day,” he reminded her.

“Actually, I would like to pick her up Friday evening and drop her off at school,” said Rachel. He’d known this wasn’t just a friendly get-together. “Before you say it’s against the court’s decision… Danny, I want her to get to know Stan better. I want to show her the archipelago. A few days of fun will do her good after everything she’s been through recently.”

“You say that as if it was my fault,” he pointed out, irritated.

And if he’d still had the energy to fight, maybe he would have raised his voice.

“You’re asking me for a favor, when you tried to take her away from me just this morning,” he reminded her harshly, and then he glanced at Stan, who was pretending to watch the ocean waves. But Danny knew the guy was listening, and that was enough for him.

“The only favor you can count on from me is that I decided not to tell my daughter how much I hate the man who ruined both our lives. Don’t demand anything more, or you’ll be disappointed,” he warned her. And he used that hard, practiced tone of voice, the one omegas always had problems achieving. But he had been a cop, and they’d taught them how to exert their authority. Which didn’t mean that Rachel was impressed. They’d known each other for much too long, and the stubbornness, the strength which he possessed - the things which had initially attracted her to him - eventually became the source of their constant fights. In the long run every alpha wanted submission.

“Where are you working,” Rachel asked instead.

“That’s none of your business,” he replied. “You’re not my alpha.”

“You’re the father of my child,” she reminded him unnecessarily. “It’s my business. And I’m wondering where they hired an unbonded omega who’s supporting an eight-year-old daughter.”

He pressed his lips into a hard line.

“I have a job. That’s the end of what concerns you. Grace is happy with me. She doesn’t like Stan, and if you keep on attacking me, she’ll never like him,” he informed her with certainty in his voice. Their daughter had been observing them for the past few minutes with furrowed brows. He could pretend that everything was okay, but Grace knew better. And her status was slowly starting to show, many years too early. She was becoming sure of herself, and she wanted to protect him. Not because she sensed in him someone weaker than her, but simply because he was her father, and she was starting to realize that sometimes omegas found themselves trapped, through no fault of their own. This island would no doubt become a prison for them both.

Rachel tensed up when her gaze landed on Grace, and regret showed on her face. Maybe even shame. This battle that they waged was never supposed to wound their daughter. They simply understood happiness in completely different ways. And they fought - not always entirely ethically - for the rights to someone they loved.

“I know a developer who owns a few nice, small houses not too far from the beach,” said Stan suddenly.

And Danny definitely hadn’t expected an offer of help from that particular beta.

He narrowed his eyes, because Rachel seemed equally surprised. They hadn’t planned this. If it was supposed to be another dirty ploy, he couldn’t see the trap hanging over his head. Maybe his rent would get hiked up from day to day. Or maybe there was a meth dealer active in the area. It couldn’t be worse than their current neighborhood.

It would have been much easier if he didn’t feel the desire to punch the guy during every minute of his existence.

“I’ll think about it,” he replied simply, walking faster, because Grace was starting to look truly disturbed.

If she was afraid that he would give her up, she could breathe easy. He would do everything for them to stay together. He planned to do exactly everything.


	3. Chapter 3

He straightened his tie, looking in one of the bar mirrors. Kono was showing Kamekona where to set up the tables, since apparently they were getting ready for some private party. Chin wasn’t guarding the door either, too busy helping Lori, who was having trouble pulling the more expensive bottles off the top shelves. He didn’t know how much it cost to reserve the most popular club in the area, but he hoped that with the money came some class, considering one bottle of the whiskey somebody intended to consume that night could probably cover his whole paycheck.

“When are we starting?” he asked, while making sure he’d cleaned all the glasses until they sparkled.

The caterers were supposed to bring the food in through the back doors, so they planned on being cut off from the back room for at least half an hour. They didn’t have enough space to lay out clean glassware for the whole evening, so he hoped Max would find at least five minutes for dish-duty. Lately he’d been switching off with Lori to do it, which threatened to cause a catastrophic backlog of orders at the bar. They needed a third person behind the bar, and he tensely anticipated the arrival of the new manager.

“In twenty minutes,” replied Kono. “The party should be pretty calm. It’s all business associates. The cream of Oahu’s business elite,” she informed him.

And he froze, because this island couldn’t be all that big.

“Can I look at the guestlist?” he asked. She paused mid-motion and looked over at him, as if she hadn’t been expecting that kind of question.

“No,” she replied frankly. “We don’t even have it here. Is something wrong?” she asked, concerned. “Danny, if you’re in some sort of trouble...” she began.

“No trouble,” he lied, swallowing heavily. “Are Rachel and Stan Edwards on the list?” he asked. “Did you notice anyone like that?”

“No,” she replied. “If it makes you feel better, I have no idea who they are, and my family’s been on the island for generations. They don’t have any links to the hotels or the club, or at least I don’t think they do. If they’re causing you some kind of problems, I could ask Chin not to let them into the club,” she offered. And he’d known that this girl was a walking treasure.

“They’re not causing me problems.” Which was simultaneously the truth and a lie. “My ex-wife and her current husband,” he added, because Kono was still looking at him with worry. The flash of understanding on her face was almost undetectable. And then she smiled at him sympathetically, rubbing his shoulder delicately. 

“I’ll tell Chin to warn us if they ever show up,” she informed him.

“Thanks, Kono,” he said simply, and hesitated. “Listen…“ he trailed off. “I don’t know if this is the time or the place, but… you’re hiring me, right?”

“Is this about the contract?” she asked directly. “Things are kind of mixed-up because of the party, but we have documents for you to sign in the office. Actually, I was hoping to give them all to you tonight after the party.”

“Any chance of you getting promoted to the manager position?” he asked. “You’d be great at it.”

Kono laughed.

“You don’t have to be nice to me anymore, Danny, you’ve got the job. Besides, your Frank Sinatras have been causing a stir on the island, so expect a few orders today,” she warned him loyally, so he simply flashed her a thumbs-up, and got back to wiping down everything.

***

The level of testosterone in the club was reaching such heights that it was almost suffocating. He hadn’t expected that there was such a large population of alphas on the island, or maybe it was just that everyone who was anyone was here. It cheered him up, that Kono hadn’t heard of Rachel or Stan, which just showed how well they weren’t fitting into their new environment. In New Jersey they could pass for well-known in certain circles, but Hawaii had its up sides. Such as, for example, generations-established clans that did business with each other.

The evening started lazily. The alcohol didn’t flow in streams. They were trickling whiskey, so he left Lori behind the bar to instead help Kono and Max, who seemed to move unsteadily between the tables. Instead of a VIP section they now had a club full of important alphas, and Danny didn’t doubt that the expensive suits the men were all wearing were supposed to show off their financial status. After all, they each had to stand out of the crowd composed of those who were equally strong and powerful.

Chin and Kamekona closed up the club, abandoning their spot at the doors, which surprised him at first. But they went up the stairs to the loft, from where they could probably more easily observe the whole club. Up to this point there hadn’t been any incidents, however, and Danny could agree that the night was a calm one. Fortunately, because he slept badly during the day, and he was swaying on his feet. He definitely would not have lived through another shift paced like the one before. Lori even made him coffee, for which he was damned grateful, because he’d needed the kick of caffeine.

Grace wanted to explore the island, but despite the time that he now had for her, he was starting to worry about his own reserves of energy. Rachel was taking her to Maui that weekend, so the kid would have a week filled with adventure. Besides, she didn’t shut up on the subject of those two friends of hers, the both of whom apparently surfed. And he didn’t even want to know what that meant for him. He’d seen enough surfers, and enough waves, to know that he didn’t want his daughter in that company, nor in the water.

He came back to the bar, taking the glasses off his tray and putting them in the sink. The clock struck midnight, and he couldn’t believe that only two hours had passed. He suddenly didn’t know whether to be glad for the slow pace.

“Bored?” asked Lori.

“The time’s gonna drag tonight,” he confirmed, scanning the crowd.

He was sure that each of those men was talking about very important business and million-dollar contracts. He hadn’t expected them to be so young, though. In New Jersey the businessmen kept in good shape, but they were generally in their fifties or older. Here it was hard to spot someone that age. Or else the Hawaiian sun somehow erased time from people’s faces.

“Did you sleep well?” asked Lori. “When I started I had a huge problem with that,” she admitted.

“I’ll get used to it,” he replied.

There were worse things than a lack of sleep. Kono came up to some of them with a wide smile on her face, which didn’t at all mean that she was flirting with the customers. He’d managed to listen in on a few of her conversations, and she was friendly, but there was a line she wouldn’t cross. He still wasn’t sure if the rest of the workers abided by a similar rule. He wouldn’t want to come across Max or Charlie on their knees with a random client in the alleyway behind the club. They didn’t look like the type of people who would do things like that, but Danny had been wrong before, and it had taught him to be careful.

He also intended to read the contract Kono promised him very carefully.

“Frank Sinatra number one,” the girl said to him, so he reached for the pre-prepared ingredients, making the cocktail in the course of a few minutes.

Kono winked at him knowingly as she spun around on her tall stilettos with the tray filled with fresh drinks. She had incredibly thin, long legs. She had an athletic build, though, so she probably wasn’t on one of those freakish diets that had been popular in New Jersey ever since Snooki first appeared on TV. He’d cursed that day for a long time.

One of the men took a few sips from a martini glass, looking surprised at first. And then he looked straight at Danny, as if he’d known that Danny had been observing him. He instantly went back to wiping glassware, because staring at people only led to trouble. And he didn’t want to invite anyone to anything more than a passing conversation. But he could feel the man’s gaze pass over his tie, and he felt a little naked even despite his shirt. He couldn’t wear an undershirt because of the heat, and his nipples were visible under the fabric at certain angles. Normally he didn’t pay that any attention, but the bar was well-lit, he didn’t have anyone, and the club was filled with alphas. And he didn’t see any rings on their fingers.

He turned his back to the room, concentrating on washing the glassware, and froze when the man’s gaze fell on his posterior. He should probably invest in looser pants. Rachel had picked these out for him, because she had loved the way his ass looked hugged by the tight fabric. He felt overheated, and he decidedly needed another cup of coffee.

“Another Frank Sinatra!” chirped Kono.

***

He probably should have expected that the peace wouldn’t last long. Max glued himself to the sink as if washing glasses was his life’s true calling. Probably the prolonged stay in an enclosed space filled with alphas was having an effect on him. Danny suddenly realized that maybe the boy had never had anybody. And in that case coming into contact with such a concentration of pheromones in the air could really hit you hard. Kono was handling herself beautifully, weaving between the now well-inebriated guests.

Chin and Kamekona went into the back room, probably bored, but Danny figured they’d be back out in a moment. He couldn’t remember how many cocktails he’d made, but they were the ones that messed you up. Alcohol was treacherous like that.

“I have another coffee for you,” said Lori, sliding over a cup, which he immediately drank in a single gulp. He straightened up with a shudder. He could already feel his blood starting to circulate faster.

“Thanks. I love you,” he said with disarming sincerity, and Lori started to laugh.

“There’s not a drop of altruism to my motives. Half the guests think I’m making the Frank Sinatras wrong, Danny,” Lori complained at him. “You need to show me your magic.”

“That’s reserved only for boys from New Jersey, babe,” he said, winking at her suggestively.

“Jersey! Six Franks over here!” shouted Charlie.

“We need to hike up the price,” said Kono, leaning with her hip against the counter. “Two Franks, a whiskey with ice, and two waters with no ice and no lemon.”

Sinatra was probably rolling around in his grave by now. Danny still hadn’t forgiven him, though, for singing about New York, when New Jersey was such a great place. His dark shirt hid sweat-stains, but the material was clinging to his back. He felt as if even his ass cheeks were wet, which wasn’t a pleasant sensation. It only reminded him of the problem he would have not too long from now, if he didn’t manage to find a doctor with whom he could work something out. He drank another coffee before he finished the order for Kono. 

“So, do you like Sinatra?” asked Lori, and something in her voice told him that wasn’t altogether all she meant. 

“I’m not _that_ old,” he replied. Her face reddened all the way up to the roots of her hair. 

“That’s not what I meant,” she said hastily. “You’re not old, you’re…” she trailed off, apparently unable to find something that would sound good.

But he wasn’t offended.

“I’m thirty-five years old, Lori. I like Sinatra because I like the classics,” he informed her. “And classic rock. Bon Jovi and so on. Just ask,” he said.

She swallowed heavily, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

“I didn’t want to be rude. Just -” she cut herself off and sighed, taking a deeper breath. “My niece was talking about her new friend from school…”

“Oh,” he blurted out. “That’s my daughter,” he admitted. “Grace.”

Lori smiled slightly.

“Yeah, about Grace. You haven’t said anything about her. I didn’t know if it was a secret,” she added uncertainly.

He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but it was better to straighten out certain things.

“I’m divorced,” he said. And it was strange, but just this once he really didn’t feel embarrassed about the failures in his life. He couldn’t remember ever before being surrounded by omegas. Lori, like Kono, understood everything as a matter of course, no explanations needed. His old friends from work, alphas and betas, hadn’t been able to grasp how badly he’d been falling apart back then. Or how hard it had been to put himself back together.

“You didn’t get custody?” she asked carefully.

“Grace lives with me,” he replied. “Hawaii is very progressive. I thought I’d be able to get my old job back,” he admitted.

Lori dipped her head, and didn’t even ask why he’d ended up behind a bar in the middle of the night in Honolulu.

***

He left Max with Lori, because the boy was looking worse and worse. They should have had a talk with him, or at least cracked opened a window. The air conditioning only managed to circulate the pheromones in the air, and even Danny was having a hard time concentrating. He didn’t know how it was affecting the others, but Lori and Kono seemed under control. He couldn’t say the same about the increasingly drunk guests. He also didn’t know how the hell Kono ended up on her knees by the tall alpha who seemed to be the leader of the group.

It was the same guy who’d been looking at him earlier, and Danny should have known to expect trouble.

Kono tried to get up, and she seemed truly amused by the situation. Or she was an excellent actress. He wasn’t sure which. But Chin was on his break, and Kamekona was playing with his cell phone on the balcony, not seeing anything past the small screen.

He cursed under his breath and made his way towards the small group, setting down his tray on the way over. 

“Hey, Kono,” he said, trying not to sound tense.

He helped her stand up, a little surprised that the man now directed all of his attention at him.

“We don’t touch the employees, understand,” he added harshly, once Kono was out of reach.

“Danny, it’s okay,” snorted Kono, but he knew better.

They’d gotten drunk, so the problems were just beginning. If they didn’t establish the rules now, it would only lead to catastrophe.

The guy looked him over from his feet to the top of his head and his combed-back blond hair. Danny wasn’t sure what it was he was seeing. He was almost waiting for commentary on the subject of his appearance. The guy was way too good-looking for his own good.

“We don’t touch the club employees,” he repeated, in order to get through the drunken haze that was clouding their judgements. The guy seemed truly surprised. Maybe he’d used the wrong tone of voice, because the alpha’s eyes briefly flashed red, as if in warning, but Danny was used to these games. And they’d trained him to resist any kind of manipulation.

“We don’t touch the club employees,” he repeated for the third time.

He didn’t expect the guy to get up. The alpha was a good head taller than him, which wasn’t anything new. His broad chest ended up at Danny’s eye-level, but he didn’t back up, because he wasn't an animal, he wasn’t prey to be hunted down. The key to victory was control. He was almost expecting the deep tones with which the man would try to force obedience from him.

But the guy only said, “Omega,” and it wasn’t an insult. Just a pure statement of fact. The guy didn’t even look surprised. But he took a step in Danny’s direction, and Danny knew exactly what he was playing at now. If he just let the man occupy his personal space, he’d be admitting defeat. 

“Danny…” began Kono, and now she seemed worried.

“Everything’s okay. Go back to work,” he said over his shoulder, and then he held out his finger towards the guy’s face. “And you, sit down and enjoy your evening. No pawing at the employees, no matter what their status is,” he added.

He saw the alpha’s gaze catch on his hand, which had been his plan from the very beginning. The guy was a problem on two legs, one that needed to be solved. Best to ask him to leave. They’d taught him how to handle situations like these at the academy. He didn’t even make a sound when a warm hand wrapped itself around his wrist, he just spun around his own axis, twisting the alpha’s arm around. He had planned to pin him to the floor like they’d taught him years earlier, but he realized, baffled, that the alpha was grabbing onto his arm with his other hand, pulling Danny in front of himself. Before Danny could blink, he ended up with his face against the wall, and his left arm twisted up behind his back. He couldn’t move, so he didn’t struggle, waiting for Kamekona or Chin to finally react.

“Omega,” the guy repeated in his ear.

His breath smelled like alcohol, which wasn’t anything new.

“You should have blocked all my joints,” the guy instructed him, as if this was the appropriate place and time.

Danny gritted his teeth, because he could tell the guy’s hips were even with his ass, even though there was a certain amount of space between them. The alpha had effectively immobilized him, but the hold wasn’t painful. He was just reminding Danny that he couldn’t move. Reminding him who really held the power here.

“If you guys have any kind of problems, you should call over Chin or Kamekona,” the guy continued.

And now Danny had in his head a whole list of things he hadn’t expected to hear that night.

“Especially since I don’t paw at my employees,” the man explained. “I’m Steve McGarrett,” he said. “And what’s your name?” he asked curiously.

“Danny,” he replied, feeling truly terrible.

He hadn’t even managed to sign that damned contract.

“It’s nice to meet you, Danny. And now I’m going to let you go, slowly, and you won’t try to hit me,” replied McGarrett.

And his hands really did disappear off of Danny’s body. He turned around, feeling the damned heat of a flush radiating from his cheeks. McGarrett looked at him with furrowed brows. He expected an expression of horror on Kono’s face, but she looked almost amused. Kamekona shook his head in disbelief.

Danny didn’t quite know what he was supposed to do now, but somehow no apologies managed to make their way past his lips.


	4. Chapter 4

He wasn’t looking forward to the end of his shift. As long as he was doing something, he knew he had a job, but the moment the party ended that would change. Kono winked at him knowingly every time she came to pick up cocktails. He could hear them joking about him, and more than once he caught McGarrett’s gaze on him. McGarrett had given up on alcohol, sobering up by the minute. He was probably planning to have some words with Danny in private, and Danny couldn’t even imagine how that would go.

Everyone had seemed amused earlier, but somehow he didn’t find it funny. 

The guests started to leave much too soon. He felt like only a few minutes had passed, but in reality the sun was starting to rise. They’d been keeping the bar pretty clean, so as to not waste time closing up. The cleaning crew was supposed to come in during the day, to put to rights everything from the bathrooms to the floor of the main room, which was now wet with spilled alcohol and scraps of food that had accidently fallen from the tables. 

McGarrett closed the doors after the last departing alpha, and then he returned, picking up his jacket from the back of a leather armchair.

“So what, boss?” asked Kono.

McGarrett’s smile looked boyish, but Danny didn’t let himself be fooled. He knew alphas, and maybe this one had surprised him, but he couldn’t be that different than the rest. Maybe he hadn’t let Danny completely manipulate him, but that just made him more dangerous. Not that they would ever meet again. 

“Excellent work, Kono. Get your asses back home. Somebody’ll be in to clean everything up,” the alpha said.

Danny sighed with relief, turning around on his heel. Max was already wiping his hands, asking Charlie about a ride. If he left now, he’d have around two hours of sleep before Grace would wake up for school. There were two days left before the weekend, and he wasn’t counting them. Really. In New Jersey clubs like this one would have been closed during the beginning of the week, but in Hawaii the fun happened every night, which he should have expected.

“No, not you,” said McGarrett, and Danny froze.

His name hadn’t been mentioned, but he didn’t doubt that the alpha was talking about him. Or maybe to him. It was hard to figure out at this time of night. Kono only patted him bracingly on the shoulder as she passed by him on her way out.

He turned back around, folding his arms across his chest, because if they were going to get into another power struggle, he intended to carry it out on his own terms. McGarrett observed him carefully, with much too intelligent eyes. And he was silent, which Danny hadn’t expected. Alphas generally didn’t say too much, but if they did, they loved the sound of their own voice. He didn’t know which group of assholes McGarrett belonged to, but he would surely find out soon. His wrist didn’t hurt, but he could still feel the touch of the alphas fingers. The guy was way too proficient a fighter even for his status.

“Where did you learn to do that?” McGarrett began.

“I used to be a bartender while in college,” he replied, raising an eyebrow. “Listen, let’s get to the point, because I want to go home. Or better yet, I’ll leave now, since I’m not interested in whatever it is you have to say to me,” he said, because he’d been feeling humiliated for the past two hours, and every cell in his body was rebelling against the situation. 

He’d simply had enough, and after the terrible week he’d had, he definitely didn’t intend to now suffer through Steve McGarrett, whoever he turned out to be.

The alpha smiled at him, as if he hadn’t heard anything so entertaining in a long time.

“I was asking where you learned to fight,” replied McGarrett. “Besides, since you work for me -” 

“I don’t work for you,” Danny cut him off.

“Kono told me you were a new employee,” said the alpha, wrinkling his brows. “She said she hired you two days ago.”

And the asshole was conducting an interview on top of that. But his words suggested that Danny still had a job after all, and he breathed a little easier.

“She couldn’t sign my contract,” he said carefully, wanting to feel things out.

McGarrett only dipped his head, as if he knew the issue.

“So where did you learn to fight?” the alpha asked again, apparently not willing to let it go.

But really, everything was on his resume anyway. He didn’t doubt that McGarrett would think to get his hands on it as soon as he slept off tonight’s alcohol.

“I used to be a cop,” he admitted.

The alpha didn’t seem surprised.

“You used to be?” asked the man simply.

He could feel that he was clenching his jaw, which didn’t look attractive, but it was three o’clock in the morning and he really needed sleep. McGarrett stood a certain distance away from him, not threatening him with his presence, but simultaneously making him constantly aware of it. As if Danny would soon forget the warm breath on the back of his neck.

He didn’t intend to answer the question and the alpha must have realized it, because he tipped his head, as if he was trying to figure him out. And Danny really didn’t like the look he was receiving.

“You shouldn’t have been able to block me in like that,” Danny said finally, when the silence dragged on.

He had no idea what he was doing here, if McGarrett wasn’t kicking him out. This conversation made no sense. Few things in his life made sense, however, so maybe he was getting used to it.

“I’m an ex-SEAL,” the man replied, and he smiled, as if satisfied by Danny’s surprise. “You didn’t have a chance from the moment you decided to stick your finger out at me. Which was clever. You provoked me to attack you, and probably by police standards they’d consider me the aggressor, right after I’d get thrown out of the club. But your plan didn’t quite work out. Kono didn’t tell you I was the owner?” he asked, clearly amused.

Kono also hadn’t told him that the owner was an asshole. They must have been the same age, and he couldn’t help wondering how many omegas those eyes and that boyish smile had on their conscience.

“Does that make any difference, if you’re molesting somebody?” he asked frankly, though he probably should have stopped himself.

The damned contract still wasn’t signed, and he needed this job. But now McGarrett wanted to humiliate him for his own amusement, and he couldn’t stand that.

“No, it doesn’t,” the alpha agreed, “but you’re not a bouncer here. Chin and Kamekona manage great by themselves. Kono was never in danger. You’re here to make cocktails,” added McGarrett, in a tone of voice that was clear and final.

And something in Danny shriveled up. McGarrett didn’t use a special tone, but there were enough notes of warning in his voice. And what was even worse, he was right. Danny’s career with the police was over. He would never go back. Now he was just a bartender, and maybe McGarrett had made him aware of that in a way that wasn’t too pleasant, but it was still the truth. And he should make peace with that, instead of living on dreams that would never happen in this hell. Maybe that was Rachel’s plan. He’d always let himself be manipulated too easily. And he wasn’t an optimist. But he prided himself on his strength of character, and this one additional humiliation, after what he’d gone through during the divorce, shouldn't have affected him so badly.

Maybe the problem was that McGarrett, like every alpha, was everything that Danny couldn’t be. He had all the strings in his grasp. Dominance, in this world, still had a huge impact, and even though they’d taught him not to bare his neck to everyone who so much as stomped a foot in his direction, letting someone else have power over him was harder for him as a result. He was aware that he didn’t have to do it. But on the other hand, this was the only job he had managed to find.

So he said, “Of course, Mr. McGarrett.”

The alpha raised a brow, as if he’d expected some sort of rude reply, instead. Danny had a few in mind, but he knew when to back off. He was too tired to fight again tonight. Especially when the battle was lost from the start. He wanted to go back home to Grace, pay the damned babysitter for doing nothing, and finally go to sleep. The last two days had been the longest of his life. Maybe the lack of sleep had made it so they blended together into one neverending torture. And he would probably still need to meet with Rachel, and it’d be fantastic if he could have an employment agreement in his hand before his ex-alpha called her lawyers.

McGarrett looked at him silently, and apparently their conversation wasn’t over, since Danny hadn’t been dismissed. He was almost waiting to hear that the alpha had changed his mind after all, and that Danny wasn’t a good fit for the position, here where everyone was so much younger than him. And most of all, so much more naturally pleasant. Maybe there was something wrong with his instincts, but he couldn’t just let assholes walk all over him. He didn’t want to think about how he’d have to tone it down soon, if he wanted to continue working here. McGarrett hadn’t had a chance to observe him too closely that evening, but the new manager could whisper a word or two to him, which Danny was starting to dread. Just this once, he didn’t have a backup plan.

McGarrett opened his mouth, apparently finally wanting to add something, but the uncomfortable silence was cut by a quiet melody. Not a lot of people had his phone number, and there was definitely nobody who would have cause to call him at this hour.

Except for Grace.

He quickly pulled his phone from his pocket, ignoring the alpha, and immediately picked up the call.

“What happened, sweetheart?” he asked, worried, and he had about a hundred scenarios running through his head, including one where Grace had woke up in the early hours of the morning, and the teenager who was supposed to be watching her was missing.

And the neighborhood wasn’t a safe one. The Police might even evacuate them, if someone was really cooking meth on the ground floor. He only hoped it was just his paranoia.

“I woke up and you weren’t there,” sobbed his little girl, and he could practically feel the relief washing over him. “You said you’d be there when I woke up. But you’re not here, Danno?”

That last sounded more like a question, so he sighed.

“Danno’s coming back now,” he informed her. “And I love you so much, so if you’d go to sleep now, I could kiss you good morning, monkey. Keini is there with you?” he asked.

“Yes,” Grace replied, “but I don’t want to sleep. I want you to be here.”

“I know, monkey. Danno’s coming home now, really. We’ll see each other soon. Get back in bed and close your eyes,” he asked her. Grace was silent for a minute and he knew she was probably plotting how to convince him she wanted to wait up for him. But it was a school day, and they both knew the rules.

“I love you, Danno,” she said finally.

“Danno loves you, too,” he replied, and hung up. He took a deep breath, rubbing his face tiredly, and froze when his gaze fell on McGarrett, who was still standing next to him. It had been so easy to forget about the alpha. He hadn’t mentioned a child during his conversation with Kono, and he couldn't not wonder what was going through McGarrett’s head now.

“Who’s Danno?” asked the alpha, and his voice didn’t betray too much emotion.

Danny pressed his lips into a hard line, and folded his arms across his chest in mute protest. He could refrain from insulting the asshole, but he definitely didn’t intend to answer a hundred questions. And if McGarrett thought that maybe Danny had let himself get knocked up like some sort of victim, and now he was left alone, abandoned and unwanted, he would definitely kick him. He wasn’t a dumb teenager. Although in the end it turned out that maybe he was an idiot after all, if he’d thought that a marriage with someone like Rachel could have lasted. She’d always been out of his league, and at first he hadn’t been able to believe his luck that someone like her had looked his way. He wasn’t a typical omega, and that had interested her when they’d first met. That had probably also been his biggest misfortune.

“Danny, Danno,” said McGarrett, nodding his head. “So a daughter, but you don’t have an alpha,” the man continued, apparently under the impression that since Danny was silent, he had the right to comment. And Danny suddenly realized that he was really alone in a deserted place after hours, locked in with McGarrett, who’d already shown that Danny didn’t stand a chance against him in a physical contest. He backed up involuntarily, and the alpha rolled his eyes.

“I’m not going to do anything to you,” the man said. “If you’ll go into my office, I’ll give you the contract. It would be great if you could bring it back signed tomorrow, since the accountant needs about a week to put you on the payroll,” he explained.

Danny relaxed despite himself, because apparently they were really doing this. He was actually signing that contract. He hadn’t thought that this hellish evening would end this way.

McGarrett was still looking at him, absorbing his reaction, but he was too tired to mask his relief.

“The faster you come pick up the contract, the faster you can get back to your daughter,” the alpha reminded him, when Danny didn’t move a muscle.

“I don’t know where your office is,” he admitted. 

The corners of McGarrett’s lips twitched as he turned in the direction of the stairs. They climbed them unhurriedly, and Danny didn’t altogether know what to expect on the second floor. Probably his psychologist would say he had trust issues, but he really hadn’t been born yesterday. And he knew how trusting alphas had ended in the past. McGarrett could equally well demand something in exchange for the job. He had to know that Danny was desperate. 

But the alpha went straight to a desk and looked through the stack of documents that was sitting on the very center of its surface. Danny tried not to look around too much. He’d talked with Kono on the ground floor, and this room looked less like an office than like someone’s private study. If McGarrett had really decorated it, he didn’t know what the omnipresent greys said about the man. But the alpha was probably the owner of a dozen buildings on the island, and he probably spent more time at his hotels than at the nightclub.

McGarrett finally pulled out the right document, and started to look it over in silence. Danny couldn’t remember the last time his heart had pounded so hard. He wanted to yank the agreement from the man’s hands and sign it immediately, but that would be neither polite nor reasonable, more to the point. If McGarrett was testing him, Danny intended to show patience this one time.

“There’s not a word here about your daughter,” said the alpha finally, glancing at him over the top of the papers.

Danny sighed.

“I’m the one who’s supposed to work here, not my daughter,” he said.

“And what’s going to happen if the kid gets sick?” asked McGarrett.

“I’ll figure something out,” he replied.

“Do you have family on the island?” the alpha asked.

Danny pressed his lips in a thin line. He wouldn’t call Rachel family. But Grace had people looking after her. Stan and his ex-alpha would do anything for her.

“You moved here without your family?” asked McGarrett, and his voice rose slightly.

Danny hated being judged.

“Grace is with a babysitter,” he said finally.

McGarrett furrowed his brows.

“So you plan on supporting yourself and a child here, while paying for a babysitter?” snorted the alpha.

Danny felt his whole body stiffen. Keini didn’t ask for a lot, but he didn’t intend to mention to McGarrett the alimony he did indeed receive every month. Rachel would also take the kid on the weekends, paying for the more expensive attractions. It would have obviously been easier to live with two sources of income, but if McGarrett was suggesting that he needed an alpha in his life, he was categorically mistaken. He’d made it through divorce. Hawaii shouldn’t be all that much more difficult.

“Did you bring me up here to interrogate and insult me?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t need anybody to tell me what to do with my life. Or what I’m not doing for my child. You have no idea -”

“Hey! Hey!” McGarrett interrupted him mid-word. “You’re right, that came out wrong. But I still need to rework this contract. Your insurance needs to cover your daughter,” he added.

Danny blinked, while the alpha started to make some sort of notes on the margins of his employment contract. He gave him the document a moment later, still keeping space between them. Danny had been a cop for long enough to know that detectives kept to a similar distance when they suspected that someone was abusing the omegas they came across. Maybe the anger he carried within himself had really misled McGarrett. He struggled because he was trapped in this hell with his little girl, and he didn’t have a steady job that would allow him to sleep easy at night.

The alpha’s angular scrawl was difficult to decipher, but the note only concerned the scope of his insurance coverage. When he looked up at McGarrett, the man held out a pen to him.

“Write in her full name,” the alpha requested. “The accountant and the office staff need complete information.”

“Okay,” he said simply.


	5. Chapter 5

He probably should have unfolded the futon, but Grace had been waiting up for him, even though he’d been sure he’d find her asleep upon his return. She’d cuddled up to him, and they’d fallen asleep in the living room, after the babysitter had collected her money from him and left. Morning came much too soon, and he watched anxiously as Grace straightened out from the uncomfortable position they’d fallen asleep in. His back hurt like hell, and the smell of smoke, which had soaked into his hair, was making him nauseous.

“Give me five minutes and I’ll make you breakfast, sweetheart. Do you have all your things ready?” he asked.

“Danno, I’m not a child,” she replied, offended.

She was wrong. At least for now. But he dreaded the moment she would really grow up. He didn’t even want to imagine the fights they’d have about the omegas and betas that would follow her around. Or even worse - the ones she’d flirt with herself. He had no idea how his mother had managed to dissuade Matt and Stella from dating during the time his father had still been in the service.

He went into the shower, still half asleep, and almost jumped into the wall when he was suddenly doused in freezing cold water. Maybe he even yelled something, because he heard a soft knock on the bathroom door.

“Danno, Mrs. Meane came yesterday, to say there’d be no hot water until tomorrow,” Grace informed him.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he yelled back, even though he’d managed to figure out that much for himself.

At least the cold shower woke him up.

***

Rachel didn’t comment on the state of his hair, which didn’t want to lie flat after being treated so badly. Grace had thought it was very funny, and she’d kept on trying to grab the unruly locks. He couldn’t see Stan anywhere, but he could have missed him. Rachel’s limousine had tinted windows.

“Have you started packing for the trip yet, sweetheart?” the alpha asked.

Grace shook her head no. After their walk yesterday they’d only managed to eat an early supper together. He hadn’t wanted to be late for work on his second day. They’d spent a little too much time walking on the beach, but he couldn’t blame Grace for wanting to spend time outside, instead of in her still unpainted room. After the weekend, when he would know his financial situation, he wanted to take her to a store that sold paint. It would undoubtedly be a smaller adventure than the flight to Maui with Rachel and Stan, but he had hope that she’d have a lot of fun painting. He’d loved it as a child.

“Will you help her pack?” asked Rachel, looking at him expectantly. “Unfortunately I have a meeting tomorrow, so I won’t be able to see you off to school,” she added.

“It’s okay, Mom,” replied Grace. “Danno always takes me anyway.”

“I know, sweetheart, but Mommy also wants to see you everyday,” Rachel sighed, and looked at him as if it was his fault that she didn’t have the ability to do so.

She wouldn’t have any scruples about depriving _him_ of custody, of that he was certain.

“Are we going to see each other this afternoon?” asked Rachel.

“Sure. Right, monkey? Are we going to go the beach again?” he asked. “Your sea shells should be dry by now.”

“Are we gonna paint them?” Grace asked curiously.

“Or we can glue the to the walls in your room,” he offered, and her eyes gleamed with a very familiar interest.

“Supposedly you can find really huge shells on the beaches in Maui,” Rachel interjected, and Grace smiled widely.

“Danno! Did you hear? Will you help me gather them up?” his little girl asked almost instantly.

“Daddy’s not coming with us, sweetheart, but Stan will no doubt be happy to help you,” interrupted Rachel, and Grace tensed up a little.

If it were up to him he’d go to Maui with them, though undoubtedly his ex-alpha wouldn’t have liked that idea. But he had work this weekend, not to mention it was his only chance to make up for the sleep he’d missed over the past week. He hadn’t imagined how long they’d spend on their feet, since Hawaii didn’t sleep even during weekdays. He really hadn’t expected that there’d be quite so many tourists.

Grace glanced anxiously back at her friends, the ones he’d seen her with yesterday, as if she wanted to go to them, but simultaneously as if something was preventing her from leaving Rachel and him alone with each other. 

“Give me a kiss, and off to class, monkey,” he said, making the decision easy for her.

***

McGarrett’s words had hurt him. It wasn’t that the alpha had the gall to judge him - but unfortunately he was right, and he’d hit on one of Danny’s biggest sore spots, which didn’t help at all. He wasn’t sure what the roster looked like, but he doubted he’d be able to find the time for a second job while working a full five days a week. If he wanted to sleep and to see Grace sometimes, he didn’t stand a chance. And that was the whole reason he’d moved to this hell, after all. Paradoxically, as a cop, even with the late shifts, he would have had his life planned out for him. They probably would have demoted him, so he wouldn’t even have had to worry about being in situations that were too dangerous, like the ones his work had previously sometimes placed him in.

The afternoon passed much too quickly. He didn’t even fold up the futon, because he expected that after he came back from working at the club he again wouldn’t have the energy to do anything. He still needed to go shopping, but at least the problem with the water meant doing the laundry was out. Grace still had enough clean clothes to live through the weekend, so he would just need to find a couple of hours for it on Saturday. And he had a feeling that without Grace he’d have an excess of free time. He couldn’t imagine spending his first weekend on the island alone, and the longer he spent thinking about how he’d put those hours to use, the clearer a vision he got of a bed with clean sheets that he could bury himself in.

Rachel was waiting in front of the school just like she’d said she would. This time, though, Stan was with her, which was apparently going to be a habit. She would torture him in the morning, and then double her forces.

***

Kono furrowed her brows at the sight of him, so he straightened his tie nervously.

“Did the talk with Steve go _that_ badly?” she asked bluntly.

“Oh, shut up,” he snorted, and Kono laughed much too loudly.

Grace had decided she’d help him with his hair, and when he’d looked at himself in the mirror, he almost hadn’t recognized himself. Normally gel kept his hair in check, but the cold water hadn’t helped at all. Especially since he’d needed to take another freezing shower before work, because living in Hawaii meant that sweat was constantly trickling down his body. He had no idea how other people managed to live here. 

He froze when McGarrett showed up at the doors to the club. Kono seemed equally surprised, and then she glanced at Danny, as if he had anything to do with it. When, really, he thought that everything had gone well enough. As well as it could have, considering he’d provoked and tried to incapacitate an alpha who’d turned out to be his boss. That slight mortification still lingered under his skin, but it wasn’t too different from others he’d lived through that year, so he just tried to ignore the feeling that he should be curling in on himself. 

In any case, McGarrett walked into the club as if his presence was no big deal. He didn’t stop until he got to the bar, smiling slightly at Kono, who he must have known for a while. The omega let the man touch her, after all, which should tell Danny something. Normally they tried to be much more careful.

An uncomfortable silence had fallen over the place, as if everyone was waiting for something. Maybe they were supposed to meet the new manager; Danny hoped it wouldn’t be some alpha. Their group functioned very nicely without someone who would try to force obedience from them and to dominate the space. Everyone seemed to know exactly what they were responsible for, and Kono solved problems before they even really arose. Danny would have given up a few years of his life for that omega to be the person who’d have power over him for at least the next few months. He needed peace and quiet like never before.

“A tie?” he heard suddenly, so he put down the glass he’d been polishing and looked over at McGarrett, who was appraising him with his eyes, not even trying to hide the way he was staring at him.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“I thought you were wearing a shirt and tie yesterday because Kono’d warned you about the business party,” said the alpha. “Do you seriously wear that to work every day? We’re in Hawaii,” McGarrett informed him unnecessarily.

“I like to look professional,” he replied, trying to keep any emotion out of his voice.

McGarrett's eyes wandered over his collar, and Danny knew exactly what that meant. The fucking alpha wanted to see his neck. Even though it wasn’t any kind of damned taboo, he didn’t like to show that much skin. His body remained covered because he didn’t like people looking at him, and McGarrett was soaking him in as if it was his fucking right. And maybe the fact that he was Danny’s employer gave his some slim justification. He didn’t think there were any regulations about harassing omegas in the workplace. That’s why he was always buttoned up all the way to the top, so as not to tempt anyone. But that didn’t stop McGarrett.

“You don’t work in an office,” said the alpha.

“Mr. McGarrett,” he sighed.

“Steve,” the alpha corrected him. “Everyone calls each other by their first name here,” he informed him. And Danny didn’t doubt that McGarrett liked being on casual terms with these young omegas. He also didn’t doubt that some of them were uncomfortable with it.

“Mr. McGarrett, the way I dress isn’t against any rules,” he informed the man simply. He wasn’t selling his body. Maybe Kono wore tight pants, but she had something to show off. The rest of her was covered up, anyway. And he got the impression she could defend herself if the need arose. Nobody in the club showed off too much skin, not even for the fucking tips.

“Steve, please,” said the alpha, and it was almost funny.

Or at least Kono was making funny faces every time she found herself out of the man’s line of sight.

“Mr. McGarrett, I’d like to get the bar ready,” was all he said, trying to sound as neutral as possible despite his rising irritation. He could see Lori raise her brow. Probably this wasn’t what the two of them had expected, but they still had a lot of encounters with alphas ahead of them, that they’d end up regretting.

“Okay, whatever you say,” agreed McGarrett, much too easily.

Danny had almost expected to have to argue for another twenty minutes. But the alpha raised his hands up, as if in surrender. And Danny didn’t doubt for a second that it was just a tactical retreat. He swallowed heavily, looking the man straight in the eye, even though it might have been more appropriate for him to at least relax his posture. Sleeping on the futon had had too much of an impact on him for that, however.

“I won’t press you, Danno,” said McGarrett, and then he left, before Danny managed to realize what the alpha had called him.

***

McGarrett stayed at the club the whole night, but they hardly saw him at all. Jenna joined them once the situation became critical. Apparently the girl was supposed to have started work the next night, but Kono had managed to call her in on an emergency basis when a group of German tourists had invaded the club. Danny couldn’t believe it was possible to drink that much beer and still stay on your feet, but on the other hand they hadn’t been ordering hard liquor, so maybe they were sweating it all out on the dance floor.

His own shirt was drenched in sweat, and the hands on the clock didn’t seem to want to budge even a little. Kono left Max at the sink, which wasn’t anything new. The omega didn’t deal well with large crowds, and Danny felt the need to talk to him man to man. He got the impression that the girls were handling the situation much better due to the fact that they got hit on more often. Max, like him, wasn’t conventionally attractive in a way that guaranteed his appeal. Danny was never sure if he should consider it a blessing or a curse. Every coin had two sides.

He froze when he realized someone was standing on the balcony. Guests weren’t allowed upstairs, since that’s where the administrative offices were. The club was under construction, and supposedly there’d be pool tables in private rooms there eventually, and the club would open in the early afternoons to function as a pub. Which would probably be good for profits. 

Danny didn’t try to strain his eyes too much, since if Chin and Kamekona, who were standing by the doors, didn’t react, that could only mean that McGarrett had come out of his office to observe the people partying beneath him. The alpha waved at Kono, who happened to be coming back in their direction, and the gesture must have been familiar to her, because she responded only by sticking her thumb up in the air, no doubt knowing there was no sense in trying to shout over the music.

“A Sinatra for the boss,” she said.

He reached for the bottles almost instinctively. He’d made hundreds of the cocktails over the last two days. He’d always thought his arms were pretty muscular, but his forearms were starting to hurt from shaking the contents of the cocktail shaker. You had to get used to this job, just like with any other. The first few days were supposed to be the worst, but fortunately the girls were very supportive. Lori was already wiping a fresh glass for him, and Jenna was even carving a little skirt for the straw out of some pineapple, even though he thought it was heresy for a New Jersey cocktail to have such a Hawaiian twist. This drink wasn’t one of their exports, but nobody here paid attention to details like that. Apparently it was enough that it’d been made by a guy from New Jersey.

Danny froze when he noticed Chin walking away from the doors to the club, leaving Kamekona alone with a huge guestlist. The line had to be gigantic, because he noticed a lot of new, irritated faces, and they were already filled to capacity. But the fire regulations were observed, he’d noted with relief.

He gave the cocktail to Kono, and instinctively looked upwards, meeting McGarrett’s eyes. Maybe that alpha also considered him an exotic export from the continent, which he could admire behind the bar of his club. Danny only hoped that McGarrett knew exactly what he was paying him for, because his moral code was pretty stiff. And he wasn’t planning on bending it for work. Maybe he hadn’t hit rock bottom yet, if he still had some dignity.

McGarrett didn’t stop looking at him, and Darry realized they were going to keep staring at each other like that. Lori and Jenna raised their heads up, probably wondering why he’d stopped moving, so he got back to work, trying to pretend that he didn’t at all feel the alpha’s heavy gaze wandering over his body. He definitely didn’t plan on leaving his tie at home anytime soon.

Kono came back with an empty tray a few minutes later, smiling at him teasingly.

“Somebody likes your Sinatra a lot,” she said mock-conversationally, but he could clearly hear something sly in her voice.

“That’s not surprising, he’s a great singer from New Jersey. Everything from New Jersey is fantastic,” he said.

“I’m sure Steve would totally agree with you,” she replied.

He glance at her hesitantly, unsure what she was playing at. He didn’t want to risk looking up and seeing McGarrett observing them.

“I just wanted to say, he’s single,” chirped Kono.

And he should probably shatter her fantasies right now, since at a certain age life stopped being simple. Maybe in her world two people met, had babies together, and lived happily ever after. No doubt this earthly paradise encouraged such dreams. But he’d been there before, and he knew what alphas wanted. Especially from omegas his age, who weren’t protected by their parents or their own partners. McGarrett had become aware of his situation yesterday morning, interrogating him about his support network, and Danny was just waiting for him to try to pressure him into something. But he hadn’t expected something like that from Kono, though her naivete explained a lot.

“I have a kid,” he informed her, short and to the point.

She looked truly shocked, so neither Lori nor McGarrett had spilled the beans, for entirely different reasons. Weston was discreet. He didn’t know the alpha’s reasons or intentions. And he didn’t want to know.

“Let’s concentrate on working,” he added, before Kono could start asking questions.

Lori squeezed his shoulder when she slipped by him, taking over one of his orders. He smiled at her with the corners of his mouth, trying to get back into the rhythm of work. Whenever he turned his back to the bar, he could feel McGarrett’s eyes on him, intense and heavy despite the distance currently separating them. And that probably wouldn’t change anytime soon.


	6. Chapter 6

It probably would have been easier for him to get used to the rhythm of his new job if they finished at around the same time every night, but the last guests were turned out almost by force by Chin at five o’clock in the morning. Danny didn’t even want to think about what time it’d be when he got home. The bar looked like a hurricane had gone through it. He’d dropped a few glasses, which wasn’t anything new, but this time they hadn’t had any time to clean up the glass, and it crunched unpleasantly under the soles of his shoes. Jenna had thankfully avoided being cut when one of the mugs had shattered right next to her, but they needed to at least sweep that up before they could leave work.

Somehow he’d lost track of McGarrett over the course of the evening. The alpha could have equally well been at home for hours now, while they tried to put everything more or less to rights. Kono was simply wiping tables with a rag that was already soaked through, trying not to leave any moisture on the wooden surfaces. The cleaners could show up whenever during the day, and by that time the wood could warp from spills left unattended.

“Still in a tie,” said McGarrett, showing up from who-knows-where. Danny looked down at the stained fabric, and truth be told the knot was starting to dig into his skin; he hadn’t loosened it the whole evening. The alpha’s gaze caught on his collar for only a few seconds, but Danny was observant and knew what to look for. McGarrett wouldn’t let the issue of his shirts go that easily.

“Come with me,” said the alpha, and Danny looked at him, wrinkling his brows. 

“I need to -” he started.

“Lori, Jenna? Will you manage? We need to sign the contract and go over the terms,” McGarrett explained.

“Sure thing, boss,” replied Lori, so Danny just wiped his hands, leaving the dishcloth on the bar.

He was still sticky from alcohol, but only a shower would help him with that. At first he’d thought he wasn’t being careful enough, but in the end trying to pour even just shots at that speed meant spills would happen. Not to mention that the three of them moved about in a very small space together, which posed the danger of knocking into each other. He was aware that at least he came out of that kind of accident much less sore than the girls. He wasn’t all that massive, but Lori seemed almost fragile, and Jenna possessed a natural delicateness. McGarrett waved for him to go first this time, so Danny quickly climbed the narrow stairs, slipping into the office without hesitation. He knew Kono was observing them both, and he hope that the situation from earlier that day wouldn’t repeat ever again. He didn’t need for anyone else to support McGarrett’s actions - whatever they turned out to be. He stood on thin enough ice as it was. Unwanted interest from an alpha couldn’t help him.

McGarrett closed the glass doors behind himself, and though you could still hear the muted sound of music from downstairs, silence reigned within the office. Danny turned around, observing the alpha carefully. The laptop on the desk was still turned on, so the man had probably been working up here the whole time. McGarrett passed by him and sat in the huge armchair on the other side of the desk, waving pointedly in the direction of the only other chair in the room. The office wasn’t designed to accommodate petitioners, and undoubtedly it’d remain that way. Danny took his seat, and realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat down. His spine protested, but he leaned forward to take the contract from the alpha.

“Look it over to make sure everything’s correct,” said McGarrett.

Danny didn’t doubt that it was. He only wondered why he was there. The alpha could have just left the papers downstairs. Grace’s name didn’t appear anywhere on the documents, but he was sure that the details of his insurance had been taken care of. He didn’t know how he was supposed to comment on the sum which appeared almost at the end. And like he’d expected, the five-day work week mentioned in the document was just a matter of convention. The manager of the club had the right to call him in if the need arose, which he’d feared would be the case from the very beginning. If Grace would spend her weekends with Rachel, he wouldn’t have to hire a babysitter for those times, but his schedule wasn’t fixed. 

Being available was key.

He didn’t know what he’d expected, really. McGarrett knew about his kid, so somehow the ridiculous notion that he’d cut him some slack had popped into his head.

“Everything’s alright?” the alpha asked.

“Perfectly,” he lied. “Where do I sign?”

“You don’t want to talk about anything?” asked McGarrett, but he passed him a pen and Danny laid down a sprawling signature without a word.

“Is that everything?” he asked directly.

The alpha furrowed his brows and parted his lips, as if he wanted to add something but changed his mind. He simply put the contract in a briefcase, sticking a short note to it for the office staff.

“Do you really need to, with that tie?” asked the alpha, without taking his eyes off the documents.

“Mr. McGarrett,” he started, but the man smiled at him crookedly.

“Steve,” he corrected him, almost instantly.

And Danny had known he hadn’t won that battle previously.

“Mr. McGarrett,” he said shortly, and he didn’t intend to add anything else.

“Danno,” replied the alpha, and apparently this was supposed to be some sort of game.

“Only my daughter calls me that,” he informed the man.

Even Rachel didn’t have the impudence to use the nickname Grace loved so much. And McGarrett definitely didn’t have more rights than his ex-alpha. If the man was trying to irritate him he was on the right track.

“Leave off the tie, and -” McGarrett began.

“No,” he said curtly.

The alpha raised a brow, as if that wasn’t what he’d expected. But Danny kept his voice to the most neutral tone possible, so as not to provoke the man. Which didn’t mean the subject was open for discussion. He intended to fight for every inch of ground, so that in two or three weeks McGarrett wouldn’t think he could win anything from him. Danny didn’t need anyone who would dominate his life, who would take it upon himself to dictate how he was supposed to dress and act. The alpha could try that crap with inexperienced omegas, not a divorcee with a kid.

“You’re irritating me,” the alpha admitted. “I know they trained you like that, so you’d be able to deal with stressful situations, and probably it worked on idiots who didn’t know what you were doing. I was in the Navy, Danny. You won’t offend me if you tell me to fuck off. It’ll definitely work better than your apparent passivity,” said McGarrett. “You just need to say, ‘fuck off, Steve,’ and I’ll leave you alone.”

And that had been damned tempting from the very first moments. But Danny raised an eyebrow.

“Mr. McGarrett, I’d like for our working relationship to be civil -” he began.

“Danny, for god’s sake,” moaned the alpha. “Alright, let’s forget about that. Do you like the job?” he asked, suddenly changing the subject.

Danny opened his mouth, only to close it again. It almost seemed like this was supposed to be a friendly conversation. McGarrett definitely wasn’t his friend, and the man was deeply aggravating. It’d be easier if he had any idea what the man was thinking. If he was entertaining himself with Danny’s discomfort then he was a bigger son of a bitch than Danny had thought. But it wasn’t all that unlikely. He’d known that their first meeting would work against him, but if he was supposed to suffer through another alpha who wanted to play with him... then in this instance he’d have to suffer through it, because he’d found exactly zero interesting job offers that didn’t just look like seasonal work.

“Have you and Grace explored the island? Kono could probably tell you where you could have a good time with kids,” said McGarrett almost immediately.

“We haven’t had a chance to yet. So far we’ve walked along the beach,” he admitted carefully.

McGarrett furrowed his brows, but then he sighed, as if he was giving up for now - on whatever it was he had in mind.

***

He agreed, with a pained heart, that Grace would go home with Rachel on Friday. Their flight was supposed to leave pretty early in the morning, and he didn’t want her to end up sleeping through half the trip. And he didn’t doubt that the room which had been prepared for her was probably more to her taste, although they’d painted some shells already, and he really did want to glue them to the window frame.

Kono observed him at work like a hawk. They didn’t have too much time to talk, but that didn’t stop her from sending him meaningful looks. Particularly since McGarrett showed up just after midnight. Even Chin started to look suspicious, and Danny would have sworn just a few moments earlier that nothing could move that guy.

“When was the last time he was here?” he asked, when Lori passed by him on her way to the sink.

“Yesterday,” replied Weston, without even stopping. “And the second-to-last time was the day before yesterday. Before that he only showed up once every few months, leaving the club mostly to Jack, but Jack was an asshole. He was our old manager,” the omega informed him.

He pressed his lips into a hard line and looked towards the loft. McGarrett had shut himself up in the office, so he was probably working, but the alpha’s very presence irritated him.

“Kono should know more. They surf together,” said Lori.

And that’s probably why the two of them seemed like such great buddies. Although on the other hand that might equally well be some kind of code for friends who occasionally slept together. In New Jersey they had their own names for it. When he’d thought about McGarrett and Kono practicing that damned sport, his mind’s eye had placed them on separate beaches. And the alpha with an expensive drink in his hand.

“Would Grace like to learn?” asked Lori.

“How to surf?” he burst out a few decibels too loudly. “Walks on the beach are enough for me,” he added hastily.

“You know, all the kids surf here. I don’t think Grace would want to be left out. It’s not all that difficult,” said Lori.

He was starting to hate her, because in his head there suddenly appeared an image of Grace in a bathing suit, surrounded by all the assholes he wouldn’t be able to intimidate with his badge and gun. He hoped that by that time he and Rachel would start to talk normally again, and that she’d take over at least part of the responsibility of running off unwanted admirers.

But surfing wasn’t something he wanted to hear about.

“My daughter is not going to stand precariously on some fucking plank in the middle of the ocean,” he informed Lori.

The girl laughed, as if he was truly hilarious.

“Get that out of your head,” he continued, “Grace -” he broke off. “Just, no. Are you all abnormal? She’s eight years old. She can’t -” His voice broke.

“I started to surf when I was four years old,” said somebody from right behind him.

Danny had, ‘Oh, shut up,’ on the tip of his tongue, when his gaze landed on McGarrett. He tensed up almost immediately, looking at the alpa suspiciously.

“Don’t mind me,” the man said, “I just wanted a glass of water.”

“Kono could have brought you up a glass,” he replied almost instantly.

The corners of McGarrett’s mouth twitched slightly, and Danny realized that hadn’t sounded all that polite. But the alpha had surprised him.

“Here you go, boss,” snorted Lori, passing the man some ice water.

McGarrett took a few sips almost immediately, and Danny was a little surprised when he realized how far down the alpha’s shirt was unbuttoned. It was hot, because they were in the middle of damned Hawaii, and the dance floor was full of overheated bodies rubbing against each other. Probably the way alcohol widened blood vessels didn’t at all help with cooling the place down. In any case, McGarrett put his face up against the slight draft that they thankfully got at the bar. They probably would have cooked within the first few hours of working if not for the air conditioning.

Danny turned to one of the customers, giving him the drink he’d ordered, and tensed up slightly, not used to having an alpha standing behind him. But McGarrett didn’t seem like he was going anywhere.

“Don’t worry about Grace. If you decide to let her get lessons, Kono runs a small school,” Lori continued, as if their boss wasn’t looking over their shoulders.

He wasn’t altogether sure he wanted to talk about his daughter in McGarrett’s presence. He still got the impression that the man was judging him as a father. And it wasn’t a pleasant sensation.

“I’m hoping she’ll be reasonable and won’t let herself give in to peer pressure,” was all he said.

“It’s called adapting to your environment,” the alpha interjected. “You could try it. Giving up on the ties might do you good.”

Danny pretended he hadn’t heard anything, at which he was very accomplished.

Lori tensed up, glancing at him uncertainly, as if she didn’t know what she was supposed to say. Which was why there shouldn’t be any alphas behind their bar. He really hoped Kono would become the new manager.

“Surfing isn’t all that dangerous. Kono is going to give lessons this Saturday. She’d probably be happy to see the two of you,” said the alpha. “Maybe I’ll even say something to her before you change your mind,” he added, as if Danny had actually been considering that proposition.

“I don’t have Grace this weekend,” he replied quickly, glancing only briefly at the surprise on McGarrett’s face. “She’s with her mother,” he added, not going into details.

Lori’s sympathetic look was entirely enough for him. He didn’t want their pity, just because his little girl would be spending her first weekend in Hawaii far away from him. And he didn’t want to think about it.

“Her mother moved here?” asked McGarrett, and he didn’t even wait for Danny’s reply, apparently knowing better. “Does she have every weekend with the kid?” he asked.

Danny finally sighed and turned towards the man, taking advantage of a free moment.

“Should I make you a drink, Mr. McGarrett?” he asked, sounding more tired than annoyed.

He didn’t know what was with all these questions, and it was hard for him to concentrate when he was simultaneously serving customers. And the alpha must have realized he’d crossed a line, because he raised up his hands defensively.

“I was only wondering if you wouldn’t like a weekend off, so the two of you could explore the island,” said McGarrett, and Danny felt only a little like an asshole.

That would truly be nice.

“Kono can approve any schedule changes,” McGarrett informed him, before he backed out from behind the bar.

Lori looked at him uncertainly, and he pressed his lips together. 

“Grace isn’t going to learn how to surf,” was all he said, in a tone he hoped sounded decisive.

***

Grace wanted a surfboard the very next day. He blamed Rachel, because apparently Maui had great waves, and the kid had watched, fascinated, as people almost seemed to fly. Or at least that’s how she described it to him during their afternoon phone conversation. It was good to hear her voice, and he couldn’t wait for her return. She said she missed him, but he could hear the excitement in her every word. He didn’t know exactly what they’d visited, because it was hard to parse anything from her chaotic recitation, but they apparently had new shells that would be perfect for her walls.

And that escapade was coming up fast on that Monday. He didn’t know what they’d plan for his first day off, but he wanted to redo Grace’s room as soon as possible. Light pink wasn’t his favorite color, but he didn’t think he had any other option.

“Danno loves you,” he said into the receiver, and he heard the kid smack him back a kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

McGarrett didn’t show up at the club on Saturday night, and Danny was starting to wonder how much control his own paranoia had over him. He didn’t have any reason to fear the alpha. Recently he’d been oversensitive to all the attention he’d been getting, but the number of offers he’d gotten in a rather unpleasant way, even back in New Jersey, had changed the way he looked at the world and at his own place in this crucible.

People who he wouldn’t have glanced at twice not too long ago thought they had a chance with him, since Rachel had gotten rid of him like trash after pulling all the best parts out of him.

And maybe those people had a point, but that didn’t mean Danny had to lower his standards _that_ drastically. Being single wasn’t that horrible a choice.

“Everything okay, Max?” he asked when the young omega started to fiddle with his eyeglasses anxiously.

“Of course, Mr. Williams,” the boy replied.

“Danny,” he corrected him almost instantly. The kid looked like a teenager, but they worked together.

“Danny,” repeated Max, and it seemed to Danny that he relaxed a little. “I have a question of a somewhat private nature…” began the omega, and then he started to mutter something unintelligible.

He normally did that when he was upset, but they were alone in the back. Chin and Kamekona were helping Lori bring in kegs of beer. Charlie and Kono were wandering around somewhere in the main room, and Jenna still hadn’t shown up, though he expected her at any moment.

“If you want, we could talk after work,” he offered.

He had a vague feeling that this had something to do with Max’s strange behaviour around alphas. Kono had also noticed that he choked up when it got a little too crowded. Danny wasn’t sure what it was about. He could remember the years of his own youth, but he’d always been more open towards people. He’d been brought up around alphas, so being in even a crowd of them wasn’t a problem for him. He kept his hormones in check, not letting the sweetish haze cloud his judgement.

“I only wanted to know if Grace was yours,” Max admitted, flushing furiously, as if he knew he was crossing a certain line.

They didn’t talk about anything too private. They still didn’t know each other well enough. He’d let a few details from his life slip out, because that’s what communication was based on. Because of that he knew that pretty much everyone here was in college. Kamekona dreamed of setting up a shrimp business. Only Chin posed a certain kind of mystery, but Danny recognized a former cop when he saw one.

“What do you mean, ‘mine?’” he asked uncertainly.

Max reddened even more, and Danny suddenly started to worry the boy was going to faint. The omega’s complexion was pretty tan, and the lights should have hidden his blush at least a little.

“Your alpha was a woman,” said Max, quite suggestively.

“Are you asking if she gave birth to my daughter?” he guessed. “No. Grace is my child in every way,” he replied, and then he furrowed his brows. “Is everything alright? If you’re in trouble, if…”

“No, I’m not pregnant,” laughed Max. “There’s just this alpha that follows me around all the time, always talking about kids…” he moaned. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do,” he admitted. Danny scratched his neck nervously.

“Max, it’s just a question of whether you want to give birth to your child,” he said, “and whether this is the alpha for you.”

“I have no idea,” Max admitted. “I wouldn’t be able to, like you did…”

“Like I what?” asked Danny.

“To tell him to back off,” admitted Max, looking at Danny as if he was his only hope. And Danny completely understood his situation.

“You don’t have any siblings?” he asked curiously, but Max shook his head no.

He didn’t ask about friends. The omega wasn’t all that outgoing.

“I’ll ask Kamekona if he wouldn’t like to kick someone’s ass,” he said.

Max’s eyes widened slightly.

“You’d really do that for me?” the boy asked incredulously.

“I think Kame’ll have fun scaring some punk. Invite the asshole over here, and they’ll take care of it,” he advised. 

He felt a little weird when Max hugged him tightly.

***

He would have liked to say that Sunday night passed peacefully, but the club was bursting at the seams. Kamekona brought them another keg, when it it turned out that college students had taken control of the VIP section. But instead of ordering expensive liquor, they kept to cheap beer, which they poured from kegs as if this was just another frat party. The heavy scent of arousal that clung to Kono’s skin, that she brought back with her didn’t make things better for them at all. Danny’d never been all that crazy about alcohol, but the scent of it after it had been digested and mixed with sweat made him nauseous, and Jenna must have felt the same, because she cringed when she leaned towards the more inebriated customers.

“I swear, the next asshole who asks me for my phone number, I’m gonna pour ice water down his collar,” said Lori.

“He’d probably thank you for it,” snorted Danny.

“Or he’d take it as an invitation,” Jenna warned her.

“Because every omega dreams of a drunk, sweaty alpha,” snapped Lori.

“They think so,” Danny informed her quite seriously.

“Then they’re out of luck,” said Weston, shrugging her shoulders. “Especially since we’re under the protection of an omega who’d kick even our boss’s ass if he had to,” she added, winking at him meaningfully.

He only rolled his eyes.

“You guys aren’t gonna let that go, are you?” he moaned.

“It was impressive, Danny. Besides, I plan on trying it out myself as a new method of getting an alpha’s interest,” chirped Lori.

“Because it’s definitely so effective,” mocked Danny.

“The Jersey method. We’ll see,” she stated. “Steve seems to have been hooked.”

“Then it’s a shame that there is no hook, or even a fishing rod. Or if any do exist, I’m not the one holding them,” he replied. “And I have to inform you that my most precious daughter decided to fall in love with surfing the moment I took my eye off of her.”

Lori smiled hellishly wide, as if this news really pleased her. Danny couldn’t say the same for himself.

***

He hated Rachel and Stan a little, because when Grace came back beaming on Sunday evening, she had her hands full of souvenirs from Maui, and they didn’t even have anywhere to put them. He hoped the larger shells wouldn’t fall off of the walls, because he didn’t know anything about gluing anything. His father had been in charge of any repairs at home, and even though Danny could ask him for a tip or two, it wasn’t the same as having him there to supervise.

Rachel observed him closely as they came back to his apartment. He realized that his neighbors had started to pay attention to them, since Stan had parked his much too swanky car in the building’s parking lot. It looked like an invasion of strangers, and he didn’t wonder at the residents’ surprise. He only hoped that they wouldn’t confuse him with Stan and Rachel and decide to rob him as soon as he poked his nose out of the house.

“Did you know that Maui is called the Valley Isle? Mom said we didn’t have time to see it all, but maybe we’ll manage next time,” said Grace.

“Really, sweetie? And did you maybe see any monkeys there?” he asked curiously.

She pouted her lips, as if she knew exactly what he was playing at and was offended.

“There wasn’t any monkeys there,” she said.

“But I think at least one showed up there,” he said, tickling her lightly. “Danno missed you, monkey.”

“I missed you, too, Danno,” she replied, and something strange passed over her face.

“What is it, sweetheart?” he asked quickly. She seemed to hesitate, and he’d seen that face before. He hadn’t thought they would need to revisit the subject, but he probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Grace could be stubborn.

“Couldn’t the three of us visit the valley next time?” asked his little girl.

“Didn’t you have fun?” he asked carefully, and only a little bit evasively.

“I don’t like Step Stan,” she informed him, and this time it sounded firm, as if she’d come to a decision.

Before she’d only complained and showed the more passive aggressive side of her personality, but he probably should have known that Grace would step up her protest to the next level. And he couldn’t in good conscience tell her that Stan was a great, stand-up guy.

***

Rachel wasn’t picking up his calls, which wasn’t anything new. After all, it was another form of exerting control. He wouldn’t have allowed himself the lack of contact, since he didn’t doubt that any unplanned conversation between himself and Rachel would have to do with Grace. He still had a few minutes before he had to show up at the club, but that didn’t calm him down at all. He stood out back, feeling a little like an idiot with the phone against his ear, trying to reach someone with whom he didn’t even want to talk.

Rachel didn’t pick up until his tenth call.

“I hope this is important,” she said.

“You think I’d call you for the fun of it?” he mocked, unable to help himself.

“Daniel,” she started, with warning in her voice.

“I have a short message for you. Grace has confessed to me that she doesn’t like Stan,” he informed her.

There was silence on the other end of the phone, which he’d actually expected. Rachel hated when things didn’t go her way.

“If you’ve turned her against him…” the alpha began.

“You think I need to try to turn her against him?” he mocked.

“You need to explain to her that Stan is a wonderful human being,” Rachel informed him. “We tried to spend some time together this weekend, but she doesn’t talk to him. The way you don’t talk to him.”

He laughed, unable to help himself, and looked at the phone, because apparently he’d dialed the wrong number.

“Are you crazy? You think I’ll tell my daughter that the beta who replaced me is a great guy? Should I go out for a beer with him? Maybe you want the both of us?” he mocked.

“Don’t be dramatic,” snapped Rachel. “You know as well as I do that Grace will only listen to you. Don’t try to ruin their relationship -”

He laughed again, though he felt like cursing.

“Don’t be dramatic?” he asked, interrupting her mid-word. “You’re impossible. If I’d wanted to ruin their relationship, I would have told her that your beta is the reason her family fell apart and she needs to talk to Grandma and Grandpa on the phone. It’s only out of politeness that I’m informing you that Grace doesn’t like him. And it’s not my problem, because I’m not the one who fucked up our lives, you understand?” he snarled.

“Are you finished?” she asked, unmoved. He probably shouldn’t have repeated the same things hundreds of times before, because evidently she’d developed an immunity. He’d be lying if he tried to tell himself that he didn’t want his words to hurt her. They had long passed the point where they listened to each other, however.

“We’re taking her to Maui again next weekend,” Rachel informed him.

“Those aren’t your visitation days,” he said curtly.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re taking her on a trip. She can’t stay shut in with you in that thing you call an apartment,” Rachel replied. “Don’t you want her to see some of the world?”

“You think I don’t want the best for her?” he snarled, cursing himself almost immediately for letting himself get provoked. “And we’re not going to stay inside. We’re going to explore the island. There’s probably a zoo here, and I’ll think of something.”

“Sure, Danny, because that’s definitely going to be better than a flight to Maui,” she sneered.

“Maybe my financial situation isn’t as ideal as Stan’s, but I’m the one who’s her father,” he growled. “And you can ask Grace tomorrow before school if she wants to stay with me, painting the fucking walls in her room, or if she wants to fly out for another weekend with your beta.”

“Stop calling him that,” she snapped. “He has a name.”

“I’ll wait until the moment Grace starts using that name,” he tossed out, hanging up on her.

He rubbed his face, trying to calm himself down, but it didn’t go too well. The cell phone was unpleasantly heavy in his hand, but he was sure Rachel didn’t plan to call him back. Then she’d be the one in the role of the supplicant, and she’d never let that happen. Even though he would have answered on the first ring. 

Somebody moved behind him and he turned around, slightly surprised. McGarrett was leaning with his hip against a Porsche. He definitely hadn’t been there before, so he must have pulled up during Danny’s conversation with Rachel. He didn’t know how much the guy had heard, but probably more than enough, because he was looking at Danny with a pretty strange expression on his face. Danny was almost preparing himself to wage another battle.

“I was wondering earlier where you parked,” said McGarrett, looking around curiously.

“I don’t have a car,” he admitted. The alpha furrowed his brow, not commenting on that, but he could almost feel the man judging him.

“The prices of even used cars are crazy here. I know it costs to ship them from the continent, but I don’t plan on giving up a kidney just to pay too much for some junker,” he said, and it was supposed to sound like a joke, but the corners of McGarrett’s mouth didn’t twitch even a little.

And then an uncomfortable silence fell between them. It probably would have been easier even if the alpha had said something on the subject of his ex-wife. At least then he would have known how much the man had heard. He’d feel wonderful if Rachel didn’t irritate him so much. Every time he tried to be civil towards her, something got fucked up. He hadn’t thought he was such a vindictive person before the divorce. He would never have said half those things to her not too long ago. But Rachel knew where to press. He’d always been worried about their finances. Rachel had her needs, and her status, not only as an alpha, but as a British national, meant that she had expectations. He’d never been able to fulfill them, and Stan finally gave her the things she’d always wanted. She could fly to Maui every weekend, living in Hawaii in one of the better districts.

If they had moved here as a married couple, they probably would have landed in an apartment similar to the one he and Grace occupied now, anyway. And he would have thought that happiness and love were enough to make up for all the money in the world, because it would have been enough for him that they were together.

“I’m late,” he tossed out in McGarrett’s direction, disappearing inside the building.

***

Sunday night almost gave him some hope for some peace and quiet. Everyone seemed tired-out from Saturday night’s craziness. Maybe McGarrett had spent the evening with some nice omega in one of his hotels. He seemed much more relaxed, though he tensed every time his gaze fell on Danny. Which was why Danny tried not to look in the alpha’s direction.

“Everything alright?” asked Lori, scrunching up her brows.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his face. Only an hour of work had passed. He should get a hold of himself. He’d known that a call to Rachel wasn’t a good idea. He didn’t care about her marriage, but he didn’t want her to think he was trying to sabotage it on purpose. He’d loyally warned her about Grace’s antipathy, because their daughter’s happiness was his highest priority.

“Not really,” he admitted finally, swallowing heavily. If anybody was going to understand him it would be Lori. He was surrounded by omegas and betas, and maybe for the first time in his life he felt at home.

“Grace doesn’t like my ex-alpha’s new husband,” he explained.

“And she thinks it’s your fault,” Lori caught on immediately. “Do you think she’ll use that against you in court?”

“No, it wasn’t like Grace said anything to them. She told me, and I passed it on to her, so she’d take care of it herself,” he explained, felling damned tired.

Lori squeezed his shoulder a little harder, giving him a friendly smile.

“You’re way too nice for your own good, Danny,” said Weston.

***

He came back from his five-minute break - the first he’d managed to take that week. There was an unspoken rule that they could sit down if they had the time. But generally, even with Jenna helping at the bar, they didn’t have a moment.

He was a little surprised when he saw a lone envelope propped up against the cocktail shaker, which he almost hadn’t used today.

The lone ‘Danny’ written in an angular scrawl across the front told him everything he needed to know about the sender. And anyway, McGarrett was standing on the loft, observing him from above. He wasn’t sure how they got paid here, but he’d given the accountant his bank account number.

He looked inside, feeling a little weird as Lori observed him, not hiding her curiosity. And he froze, because he definitely hadn’t been expecting a brochure for one of the hotels on the island. The flyer informed him about all the attractions available for tourists. Grace probably would have been over the moon at the thought of swimming with dolphins. But he didn’t even want to look at the prices. A pre-paid, three-night reservation for two people fell out onto the table top. 

When he looked up towards the alpha again, McGarrett had disappeared from the balcony.


	8. Chapter 8

The hotel reservation kept on catching his eye. He didn’t have anywhere to put away the envelope, so he stuck it under the counter, figuring he’d manage to somehow put it out of his mind, but it wasn’t easy. If he hadn’t known how much McGarrett had heard of his conversation with his ex before, now he was certain that it was going to affect their relationship. But he’d expected a pink slip more than weekend hotel reservations. Nobody wanted to hire omegas in unstable personal circumstances. He didn’t feel all that bad emotionally, but he could have a breakdown at any moment, and he was perfectly aware of that. He’d gone to those damned classes in high school, and again during his time at the academy. They were more sensitive than other people, but he’d never considered it one of his own flaws.

Lori didn’t comment on the contents of the envelope, even though she’d at least seen the brochure. And she had to know that McGarrett had brought the whole thing over in his absence. He wasn’t altogether sure whether he was thankful for this silence, because his head was full of thoughts he didn’t altogether like. Only the night before he had thought he’d misjudged the man. Now he wasn’t sure of anything.

The last of the guests left, which meant his work-week was over. But somehow he couldn’t enjoy that fact. His tips weren’t the worst, and he definitely wouldn’t regret the cash. Starting tomorrow - he glanced briefly at the clock - starting today, he had painting and gluing shells to walls to look forward to. Grace had a grand vision. She wanted a huge butterfly, which was the symbol of Hawaii. She’d brought over a few pictures and books from the library, planning out their renovations down to the smallest details. And he felt damned satisfied that she was happier with this than with a trip to Maui.

“Is McGarrett in his office?” he asked when Kono brought the last glasses over to the sink.

“He should be,” she said, furrowing her brows. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know yet,” he replied honestly, and he grabbed the envelope from beneath the counter.

He skipped over every other step on the stairs, not even knowing why he was so upset. But McGarrett roused conflicting emotions in him, and his instincts warned him to stay far away from the guy. And his instincts were never wrong.

He knocked, because that was the civilized thing to do. In any case, the alpha could see him through the glass door and waved at him in invitation.

“What is this?” asked Danny, holding up the envelope.

He didn’t sit down, because he was short enough as it was, and he wanted to be taken seriously. At least this one time. He was almost counting on an argument with McGarrett, but the alpha only raised an eyebrow, and then smiled slightly, boyishly, which shouldn’t have been endearing at all, because Danny was angry and tired. If the man wanted to take over control of his private life, of the way he spent time with his own daughter - he didn’t have any right to.

“If you look inside you’ll find out,” replied McGarrett.

“I looked,” he informed the man curtly. “What is it?”

“Three night in a hotel for yourself and your daughter,” said McGarrett, and apparently he didn’t see any problem with that. “If you want, you can consider it an apology.”

Danny froze, because he hadn’t expected that. McGarrett leaned back in his chair and wrinkled his brows, looking at him curiously.

“What did you think it was?” the alpha asked, and there was no mockery in it.

Danny hadn’t wanted to consider it a form of a - not all that cheap - pick-up. Though for McGarrett it was probably spare change. Especially if he wrote it off into the cost of running his own establishment. But now the thought seemed ridiculous.

“You didn’t sit down, so you could take control of the space,” the alpha continued. “I know these tactics. We’ve had the same training, but I feel it on a more primitive level. And these tactics won’t make an impression on me. I’m not one of the idiots who lets you wind them up around your little finger. You can continue, but don’t expect it to have any effect,” he added. 

Danny swallowed heavily, not knowing what to do next. Because McGarrett really didn’t seem the least bit moved by the fact that someone was standing over him. Taking control of the situation physically, at least. And maybe Danny finally realized that the alpha never really lost that control, and that’s why he was so relaxed even now. On the one hand, this was just another irritating thing about McGarrett. Subconsciously, however, Danny couldn’t help feeling a certain fascination. Even Rachel had never noticed his little tricks.

“I want you to have a good time with your daughter, is that a crime?” asked the alpha.

“You heard my conversation with Rachel,” said Danny, and it was supposed to sound like an accusation, but even to his own ears it was just a statement of fact.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have yelled at the top of your lungs,” replied the alpha. “You make a lot of noise. I don’t think I’ve ever met an omega who defended his territory so fiercely. I didn’t know omegas even felt anything on that level.”

Danny pressed his lips into a hard line. Grace wasn’t his territory. She was his child. McGarrett was a neanderthal, but telling him he’d understand when he had his own kids wasn’t within the bounds of Danny’s capabilities.

“It won’t happen again,” he said, wondering if he should apologize for it.

“From what I heard, I rather think it will happen again,” replied McGarrett, and he didn’t seem troubled by that fact. “The reservation doesn’t have a date. You can pick whatever time you want,” he informed him.

Danny looked down at the envelope in his hands, suddenly feeling like an idiot. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d received something that wasn’t tied to some sort of trap, but McGarrett seemed sincere. And most of all, he’d stopped staring at him and stripping him with his eyes. Maybe the alpha had simply passed through his stage of fascination and finally realized that the only interesting thing about Danny was his stubbornness and origins. New Jersey had left its stamp on him, after all, and he didn’t speak in that pidgin Kamekona and Chin used when they wanted to make fun of the tourists.

“Thank you,” he said finally.

“No problem,” replied McGarrett, again smiling so boyishly and innocently that something twisted in Danny’s belly.

The alpha’s eyes were too bright and too sincere.

“I’ll give you a ride home,” the man said, getting up from his chair.

“That’s -” started Danny.

“You’d rather walk at four o’clock in the morning?” asked McGarrett, and there wasn’t a good response to that.

***

He hadn’t imagined the alpha as someone who’d buy a Porsche. They’d always seemed like more of a woman’s kind of car to him. And he didn’t even bring statuses into it. Rachel simply wanted one based on the streamlined shape and complete non-functionality. He quickly realized the car would probably be a better fit for Danny himself, just based on the dimensions. But McGarrett didn’t seem to have a problem with finding space for his damnably long legs.

The man drove in silence and didn’t even ask for his address, which probably should have annoyed Danny, but it was four in the morning, and he was supposed to wake up in just a few hours to take Grace to school. And he didn’t doubt they’d run into Rachel again, and after that phone call it could be worse than normal. And it was already bad, normally.

McGarrett was right. Those fights would happen again. He just didn’t intend to let a situation arise that would lead to anyone from work overhearing him exchange a few words with his ex-alpha.

“Is the tie some sort of rebellion, or did it just get stuck to your neck?” the man asked, and Danny almost thought he had heard wrong.

“What?” he burst out involuntarily. “A tie is a perfectly normal article of clothing, about which you people probably don’t know anything in this _wonderful_ place, but ever since the time we’ve crawled out of the caves, there has existed a certain standard when it comes to clothing,” he explained, cursing himself silently for again landing on the defensive.

“We’re more from the water, maybe that’s why we don’t like to strangle ourselves uselessly,” said McGarrett. “I’m just saying, if you’d unbutton a couple of buttons sometimes, people would stop wondering why there’s an accountant behind the bar. I caught myself twice starting to worry about my taxes. And Chin already mentioned that he’d like to get his accounts in order...” he trailed off suggestively.

And it took Danny a long moment before he realized the man was making fun of him, as if it was perfectly normal. Mainly because of that irritating, self-satisfied smirk the man had on his face. Danny had no idea why the man was provoking him, but apparently he got satisfaction from it. What was even worse, Danny didn’t know what he could do about it, since they’d already established that the tricks he’d learned years ago at the academy wouldn’t be of much use. McGarrett must have come into contact with a lot of different people in his life. It was the first time Danny had come across an alpha who seemed to so completely not care about who he was speaking to and about what. Maybe it was due to the fact that they were within McGarrett’s territory. He still didn’t know how much of the island the man owned, but it gave him a confidence that worried Danny.

He wasn’t crazy about people who pulled strings.

Normally he’d have told the guy he was an asshole, but the possibility existed that his house would burn down the next day, and he himself would end up at the bottom of the ocean. He vaguely remembered that some of the biggest criminal organizations ran their routes through Oahu. McGarrett didn’t look like a member of the Mafia. He’d been in the army, and that should have meant something, but it was better to be safe than sorry. 

The alpha looked at him as if his silence wasn’t what he had expected. And he must have known that Danny was generally a lot more outspoken. His mother had even sent him to anger management classes. Hormones had ran rampant through him, but by no means in a sexual way. Although really, those two realms of his life had overlapped. Rachel had liked it when he got more dominant in bed. Maybe that’s why they’d been so good together in the beginning. But sex didn’t solve anything.

“Nobody on the island wears a tie, Danno,” the man informed him, smiling crookedly at him.

He swallowed heavily, because he knew he should choose his battles carefully. He figured McGarrett would lay off of the ‘Danno’ eventually. Though he was slowly starting to get used to it, which alarmed him. Only a few weeks earlier he would have bitten Rachel’s head off if she’d tried to use that nickname. But McGarrett was pushing his way into Danny’s life slowly and relentlessly. He should probably change jobs sooner rather than later, but he couldn’t imagine it would be easy for him.

“A correction, Mr. McGarrett. _I_ wear a tie on this island,” he replied.

***

Rachel watched him with a stormy expression on her face, but she brightened the moment her eyes fell on Grace. The kid wasn’t naive, however, and she must have known that they’d had another fight. The tension was so thick you could almost touch it, and Danny could see the other parents looking at them as they dropped off their own kids. The situation wasn’t made any easier by Stan, who stood next to Rachel and tried to smile widely. Grace didn’t pay him any attention, or at least she only stared at her mother stubbornly.

“Sweetheart, what would you say if we were to visit that valley in Maui that I told you about yesterday?”

It was on the tip of Danny’s tongue to say that they already had plans. In a way, McGarrett had made his life easier with that reservation. Part of him was happy that he could take Grace to a truly nice place. But he would have preferred to pay for it himself. And he didn’t have any idea what exactly McGarrett had been apologizing for, since his behavior hadn’t changed at all from the moment they had met. 

But he hadn’t said a word, because Grace deserved those damned dolphins, even if he had to swallow his pride. He still hadn’t said anything to her, because he wanted to talk over the details with Kono. He had no idea who was supposed to fill in for him during the busiest time of the week. He didn’t know who worked on Mondays and Tuesdays. Yesterday at work Kono had talked about the waves waiting for her today, so she wasn’t showing up at the club either. He only knew Jenna, who was called in at the last minute when the need arose.

Grace scrunched up her brows, and suddenly a joyous gleam appeared in her eyes.

“Danno’s coming with us?” she asked, misreading the situation.

She’d mentioned that she’d like for the three of them to spend time together, and she must have thought that’s what he and Rachel had been fighting about. But she should have known better. Her mother wasn’t so easily swayed.

“No, sweetheart. The three of us would go again. Stan will reserve a flight, or we could go on a boat. Would you like to go on a boat?” asked Rachel, trying to give her voice the appropriate tone. 

But Grace wasn’t smiling anymore. She only glanced at Danny briefly, ignoring Stan entirely.

“No,” she said simply. “Me and Danno are gonna paint my room,” she replied, straightening up slightly.

He squeezed her hand a bit tighter, feeling only slightly satisfied.

***

Grace seemed fascinated by the paint store. He didn’t know anything about interior decorating, but he suspected it would be enough that the walls become pastel pink, and his princess would be happy. To his surprise, however, Grace only looked at the blue paints. The alpha who owned the store watched them from a certain distance, and Danny was painfully aware that his fading bite mark was undoubtedly visible in the daylight. The scar was becoming less and less visible every day, and one day a memory would be the only thing left of it. He should have worn a dress shirt again, and maybe even a tie. That was the only thing he felt comfortable enough in to forget to pay attention to the way his clothing lay on him.

Grace pulled him towards the next set of shelves, no doubt unaware that you could mix the paints together. He probably had to buy white paint and some colorants, and they could work on the exact shade they wanted at home. His father had explained to him exactly what they needed.

“Do you need any help?” asked the man finally, walking up to them.

“We need some brushes and a roller,” he said. “And apparently some blue colorant. Sweetheart, are you sure you don’t want your room to be pink like at home?”

“Danno, fish don’t swim in pink water,” Grace informed him, as if this was quite obvious. “Seashells are also from water. We need blue,” she stated with certainty in her voice, looking right in the eyes of the alpha standing next to them, which was neither polite nor appropriate.

“Gracie,” he said shortly but firmly. She looked at him briefly, then fixed her eyes on the ground. He hugged her, pulling her closer to him. He hadn’t expected this kind of trouble for a few years yet. He could remember when Matty had felt obligated to challenge every alpha he came across. Fortunately most of them ignored that kind of behavior. But he didn’t want to come face to face with the one asshole who would take his daughter seriously. 

“Remodeling?” the man asked, pulling some more objects off the shelves for him.

Danny definitely hadn’t mentioned anything about drop cloths, and he glanced at the growing pile in his cart with a certain amount of doubt. He had no idea what that flat, red thing was for, but it came in a set with the roller. Apparently he had another long talk with his father ahead of him.

“You need to dry out the roller on this, or else you’ll be crumbling paint off of these little blond hairs later,” the alpha explained to him. “I can see you have no idea what to do with it,” the man continued.

“I’ll manage,” he replied, trying to ignore the interest radiating from the man.

Grace peered at the two of them with a mixture of suspicion and resentment. He supported her completely.

“I don’t doubt it,” said the guy, “but it’d probably be easier if someone helped you. You’re not from around here, are you? You look like a _haole_.”

Grace tensed up and looked at the man with furrowed brows.

“That’s not a nice word,” she said sharply.

Danny had no idea what it meant.

“Don’t curse in front of my daughter,” he warned the guy, straightening up slightly.

The alpha laughed.

“It means someone from the mainland. Someone who doesn’t fit in. I could show you around. You don’t have to get angry right away,” replied the man, and he smiled at him a little wider, apparently trying to show him he didn’t have anything bad in mind.

But Danny didn’t believe him for a second, and neither did Grace.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this election has been depressing. I'm embarrassed to be an American.
> 
> Have some fic translated from a foreign language:

He didn’t even know when Grace had slipped into his bed, but when he woke up in the morning she was asleep cuddled up next to him. He felt as if he’d gotten back several years of his life. Sleeping in the daytime didn’t really allow him to recharge his energy, but he was counting on getting used to it eventually. But they couldn’t make a habit of sleeping on his futon. Grace had a perfectly comfortable bed, and she couldn’t get back into the habit of spending the night next to him. The psychologist had told him to watch for these kinds of behaviors and to react immediately. But he couldn’t get past the pressure in his rib cage when he looked at her now.

He was a little surprised that he had a message notification displayed on his cell phone. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had texted him, but he probably shouldn’t be surprised, since the average age of his new acquaintances was closer to Grace’s than his own. And Kono was apparently under the impression that he dreamed of spending his days off soaking in water. Or even worse, surfing. The invitation also included Grace, so McGarrett probably had something to do with it.

“Are you ready for school?” he asked, getting up off the bed.

Grace started to stretch. They hadn’t managed to paint anything the day before, but they had made dinner together. And Grace seemed satisfied that he’d stayed with her the whole night. This week had probably been even tougher on her than on him.

***

He called Kono as soon as he dropped Grace off at school. He felt Rachel’s eyes on him, but he didn’t intend to tense up, not wanting to give her even that slight satisfaction. He hadn’t let himself get intimidated even once during his time as a police officer. And Rachel couldn’t be worse than any of those alphas he’d met on the job.

“The waves are wonderful,” Kono informed him in lieu of a greeting. “Don’t make me beg, Danny,” she added.

He signed expansively.

“Kono, seriously, not today. We have plans this evening, and Grace would no doubt love to go swimming with you guys. Just not today,” he clarified hastily. “We’re going to be painting,” he admitted.

“Painting?” snorted Kono. “Do boys from New Jersey even know how to hold a paintbrush?” she mocked, but it was very different than what the alpha from the paint store had been insinuating.

“Boys from New Jersey can paint, if they have to,” he replied. “Besides, how hard can it be?” he asked rhetorically.

“Brah, you have no idea,” Kono laughed. “And I know someone who would be happy to help you, before you ruin the whole apartment,” she added.

“Kono,” he protested shortly.

“Brah, believe me, painting is serious business. I know, because me and the cousin redid my aunt’s house a few years ago. We’ll be at your house in just a few minutes, just text me your address,” she requested.

He was a little surprised she didn’t already have it. He had no idea how Kono had gotten his phone number in the first place, but she was their acting manager, so probably McGarrett had given her access to all the relevant information.

“Kono, I appreciate the offer, but I really can’t,” he said, letting a long sigh escape his lungs.

He had no idea how much they charged for these kinds of things on the island, but he suspected there was no point trying to find out. After all, the owner of the building would have undoubtedly made repairs if it would have been profitable for him to do so. And he hadn’t.

“Brah, I insist,” said Kono. 

He sighed.

“And how much is it going to cost me?” he asked finally.

He got silence in return, which he hadn’t expected.

“Are you trying to insult me, brah? You tried to protect me from Steve, we’re practically _ohana_. Family doesn’t charge each other,” scoffed Kono, as if it was obvious, and somehow he’d overlooked this minor detail.

“But your cousin -” he started.

“Chin,” she interrupted him mid-word.

“Chin is your cousin?” he wondered.

Kono snorted at him.

***

Chin and Kono showed up on his doorstep much too soon. He and Grace kept the place more or less in order, but there wasn’t a lot of space and his things had never gotten unpacked. Kono glanced at the boxes against the walls as soon as she came inside. They didn’t say a word, but Chin furrowed his brows, which was commentary enough, which Danny didn’t need.

“We’re painting here?” Kono clarified.

“We’re painting Grace’s room. I was just about to cover everything with plastic,” he explained, leading them further inside. “I have some beer in the fridge…”

“Brah, if you cover up the furniture, how are you planning to paint the walls behind it,” Kono asked briskly.

Danny opened his mouth, and then closed it. He hadn’t thought of the walls in those terms. Chin patted him on the back and started to shake his head back and forth, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Jersey, brah, you need us,” Kono informed him.

And maybe she really had a point.

They carried out the bed and suddenly the room seemed huge. Grace’s shells were still drying in the bathroom, so he gathered them up in some bowls, laying out some of the stuff in the kitchenette. He was expecting to be forced to take everything out of the cabinets so they could move them, but before he knew it Kamekona appeared at his apartment, dragging a smiling Max behind him. He wasn’t too surprised when it turned out they had fried shrimp with them, and Lori showed up a moment later with a case of beer.

His apartment was nightmarishly small.

He glanced hesitantly at his watch, while Kono and Chin argued about the best place to start. Apparently they’d made a few cardinal errors when painting their aunt’s house. For example they hadn’t peeled off the old paint. Which was another thing Danny hadn’t thought of. He was suddenly very grateful he wasn’t doing this by himself.

“School is almost over,” Lori reminded him completely unnecessarily.

“I know. Can I leave you guys alone here?” he asked bluntly, because Kamekona had pulled out his frying pan and it seemed like he was planning to cook dinner for everyone. 

“We’ll go together, because we need more beer,” said Lori.

***

Grace stared at everyone with wide eyes. Her gaze caught on Chin for a short moment, but the beta didn’t even twitch as he introduced himself as Kono’s cousin. Danny hadn’t expected the way Grace adopted them all, calling them aunts and uncles. Lori was ecstatic. And then they came back to the issue of stripping off the old paint. He hadn’t expected painting to mean quite so much mess and confusion.

“If I might suggest something,” interrupted Max. “There exist substances that would allow the old paint to be removed over the course of a few minutes,” he said.

“The store where I bought everything is just around the corner. What is this stuff called?” asked Danny.

“Chemistry,” replied Max, pulling baking soda, which Danny hadn’t even known he had, out of his kitchen cabinet.

The omega then got into the cleaning products under the sink. Danny suddenly stopped being worried about the people cooking meth on the ground floor - if indeed that’s how they made their money. Max mixed, heated, and sniffed the mixture in a terribly professional manner.

Grace seemed fascinated. Surfing had just stopped being his biggest problem. Max poured everything into an empty window-cleaner bottle, and covered his mouth with a dishcloth as he went into Grace’s room.

“Okay,” Danny said hesitantly, not knowing what came next.

“Are we making hats?” suggested Lori, pulling out a stack of newspapers from under his table. “If we all come back to work with blue hair on Thursday, it’s gonna be strange. And I object,” she added.

“Wait, we’re painting the ceiling, too?” he wondered.

He didn’t have a ladder. He didn’t know how they were supposed to reach so high up.

“Danno,” sighed Grace, and she shook her head slowly, as if she really couldn’t believe his naivete.

***

He hadn’t expected that painting was going to be such an extreme activity, but Charlie showed up in the afternoon with a supply of paintbrushes. The bucket of paint stood in the middle of the room, and he didn’t doubt that the newspapers laid out on the floor were a good idea, because blue drips radiated out from it in all directions. Grace was doing surprisingly well, so she did the trim with her tongue poking out in complete concentration.

He couldn’t remember her ever being as happy as when she showed him her finished masterwork. The floor was separated from the wall with an almost perfect line. Kamekona dripped paint on their hats as he fought with the ceiling.

“Jersey, I’m wondering about a new flavor of shrimp,” he admitted.

“Tofu,” suggested Max, pushing up his glasses.

“Sharp and salty like the waves at dawn,” interjected Kono, laughing at the expression on Danny’s face.

“I was thinking about something from the mainland. What do you eat in New Jersey?” asked Kamekona.

“Grandma’s spaghetti,” replied Grace, folding her arms across her chest. “And hot dogs. Do you think Josh still sells them in front of the stadium?” she asked hopefully.

“Monkey, you know Josh is gonna be there forever. His legs grew into the asphalt,” he explained, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. “But Kamekona can’t make spaghetti or hot-dog flavored shrimp.”

“And why can’t I, brah?” the guy asked, offended. “And you won’t know what’s good, until you try grilled pineapple.”

He could feel his lips part in mute protest. But it was too late. Grace looked at him with those huge eyes.

“Danno?” she asked.

“It’s an abomination,” he informed her.

“You said the same thing about pizza with pineapple,” she reminded him.

“Because that’s also an abomination. Mark my words, child. Pineapple does not belong on pizza. We’re from New Jersey. We don’t put fruit on pizza,” he said in a tone that brooked no discussion.

She pursed her lips, as if she wasn’t at all surprised by his outburst. Maybe he had a tendency to dramatize, but Grace seemed to like it. She seemed to instinctively know when he was serious, anyway.

“An abomination,” he repeated.

“You said the same thing about sand,” said his daughter.

Kono observed him with a wicked grin on her face, which should have told him that trouble was brewing.

“What do you think about surfing, Grace?” the girl asked.

“An abomination,” said his daughter, grinning widely. “I don’t know what it means,” she added joyously. “Danno keeps on saying that since we got here, but I think he likes it.”

And he probably should have expanded her vocabulary first.

***

Grace’s room looked fantastic. Light blue walls brightened up the space. Maybe it even seemed bigger. Kamekona found some glue that was supposedly perfect for gluing everything. He hoped so, because some of the shells ended up on the ceiling in accordance with Grace’s wishes. He got the impression that they were in a good-sized aquarium. And not too long ago she’d been his little princess.

He didn’t know if washing the paint from their skin would be easy, but they were in for a good scrubbing that same evening. And he doubted they’d have time to move the furniture back in, because the walls were still wet and would probably need to be aired out for a few days before anybody could move back in there. It was just one more thing he hadn’t thought of, and he was damned grateful to Kono that they’d all showed up that day.

Grace fell asleep on him during supper. She didn’t eat too much, no doubt exhausted, but if he knew anything, his little alpha would make up for it at breakfast. Max looked at her with a strange fascination, which probably should have amused him. The kid was truly strange, but Danny’d managed to get used to his eccentricity.

“To painting,” said Kono, raising up her beer bottle.

“To excellent helpers,” he corrected her, and she smiled wickedly.

“I told you you needed us,” she snorted. And this time he didn’t even try to protest.

***

_Haole_ wasn’t a very polite term. He discovered this more or less around the time he told one of the alphas to wait his turn to order. The guy snorted, saying something to his merry companions, and the Rolex on his wrist probably wasn’t a knock-off. Danny didn’t even want to know how much watches like that cost.

He didn’t pay too much attention to what people yelled out, unless they happened to be the customer he was currently serving, but Lori narrowed her eyes dangerously, looking straight at the enraged customer. If looks could kill, the alpha would already be dead. The basis of Danny’s positive self-image consisted of not listening to the stupidity people said to him. He definitely didn’t compete with Lori or the others in terms of looks, and he probably should have shaved more often, but he didn’t give a crap if the customers liked it or not. They weren’t buying him, only the drinks he made them, and they should understand that. And keeping an emotional distance was getting easier for him.

“Does Grace like her new bedroom?” asked Lori in passing.

“I wasn’t sure she would leave to go to school,” he admitted. “If it was up to her, she’d force the whole class to have lessons at our house. I’m really damned grateful to all of you,” he repeated for probably the hundredth time. “If you’re ever going to be painting anything, or…”

“Jersey, let’s agree that Chin let you hold a paintbrush only so you wouldn’t feel left out,” Lori interrupted him, “and there is no force on this earth that would convince me to go to you for help with remodeling. Do you know anything at all about paint?” she asked.

He wanted to pretend to be offended, but she was right. And he felt secure enough in his gender to admit that remodeling and home repairs weren’t his specialities. They hired people for that kind of stuff in New Jersey. But Grace’s room looked great, and none of the shells had fallen on her in the middle of the night. Which was the most important part.

“Paint? What paint?” asked McGarrett from right behind him.

Danny jumped, unable to suppress the reaction. Irritated, he looked back at the man, who seemed damned proud of himself.

“We were painting with Jersey, boss,” snorted Lori.

McGarrett smiled slightly at the sound of his new nickname.

“Landscapes, Danno?” asked the alpha.

“The walls,” he replied shortly.

“It’s too bad you can’t see it. Everything’s pastel blue, and Chin wants to add in a few lines next time, so the whole thing looks like the ocean,” continued Lori. “The seashells were an excellent idea. Grace has great taste, and imagination,” she added.

Only one sentence stuck in Danny’s head.

“Chin’s planning to paint something else over there?” he asked, not hiding his alarm.

“Right after we finish painting the rest of the apartment,” said Lori, and he was damned grateful to her that she’d formulated that so carefully.

McGarrett probably would have also commented on his living conditions, but there wasn’t anything sensible on this damned island that he could rent. Kono had muttered something about her relatives, but she must have realized that he simply couldn’t afford anything else right now. She supported only herself on her salary from the bar, and she lived in a house that had until recently belonged to her parents. He was supporting himself and a daughter. And Grace was supposed to go on some sort of a trip with her class not too long from now. The PTA hadn’t established the cost yet, but he was starting to slowly get ready for it. He had no idea why on TV they always showed omegas receiving outrageously large alimony payments from alphas who’d practically been grabbed by the balls. He’d won Grace in court, but he still felt as if he was the one who’d stuck his ass out for a spanking.

“Grace isn’t going to pick out the paint color,” he said hastily.

“Kono and I already have an idea,” said Lori.

“Am I gonna have a giant pineapple over my bed?” he asked simply.

Lori grinned wickedly. If not for the sound of a throat clearing, he might have managed to forget about McGarrett. But the alpha was still taking up space behind their bar, as if they hadn’t been cramped enough before. The guy was much too large to hide by the sink. Danny barely managed to turn around his own axis, and whenever he and Lori passed each other, they slowed down, so that one of them wouldn’t knock into the other. The girls had probably had an easier time of it before, when the third bartender hadn’t been a guy of his size. Maybe Lori was a few centimeters taller than him, but she couldn’t compare to him in the other dimensions. 

But McGarrett was a completely different kettle of fish. Or maybe dolphins, since they were in Hawaii. Like most alphas, he was much too tall. His chest, even hidden by his shirt, drew the eye. He had to work out, because those kind of muscles weren’t only the result of genetics.

Danny spent a moment wondering if the man wanted to ask about the hotel reservations, but that was ridiculous. Recently the alpha hadn’t been staying at the bar for long. He dropped in only to take care of the formalities, probably just until he could find a new manager. Danny was still mentally voting for Kono, even though he was alarmed how quickly she had become almost a member of his family. Grace loved her, which could lead only to one thing. He’d have to talk to Rachel about surfing lessons and a board sometime this week.

“Send Kono up with a Frank Sinatra,” said the alpla in such a tone that Danny didn’t know if it was a request or a command.

“Sure, Mr. McGarrett,” he replied.

“Steve,” the man corrected him almost immediately, but he didn’t seem to hold too much hope in the matter.

Lori was smirking to herself, so he did his best to ignore her.


	10. Chapter 10

McGarrett’s hotel was huge, and probably Danny shouldn’t have expected anything else. Rachel had been surprised at first when he’d told her about their plans for the weekend, which - thanks to Kono - began on Friday afternoon. He felt damned strange in the gigantic lobby, and he hugged Grace to his side so she wouldn’t disappear into the crowd. They didn’t have a lot of luggage, since they were staying only for the weekend, but he made sure the suitcase was safe right by his feet. He’d been a cop for too long not to know when and where theft happened most often, and he didn’t like this press of people at all.

Grace’s eyes became wide as saucers as she showed him the fountain in the center of the space. He had no idea who had designed the place, but it was very impressive. And the light mist did a much better job of cooling them down than the air conditioning. He could see the whole pool complex out of the glass windows, and even though the dolphins must have been in their own aquarium - or wherever it was that they kept them - he had an idea of where he’d probably be spending the most time.

They walked up to the reception desk as soon as the crowd let up a little. He hadn’t altogether known how he should dress, but apparently they blended into the groups of tourists well enough, which is what he had wanted. The woman took the printed-out reservations from him and glanced up at him, a little surprised. He fucking hoped McGarrett wasn’t playing some sort of joke on him, because Grace was so happy he’d be forced to strangle the guy with his bare hands. And he wouldn’t hesitate for a moment.

“Is there a problem?” he asked, trying to sound calm.

“Of course not, Mr. Williams,” said the woman, and her eyes fell on Grace, who was doing her best to see anything.

She was too short to reach the counter. And maybe that was a good thing, because he didn’t like the way the beta was looking at them at all.

“Is there a problem?” he asked again, sharper this time.

The woman startled and hastily turned back to the computer. Grace tangled their fingers together, so he smiled, glancing down at her. He hated flip-flops, but apparently they were the national uniform of tourists. And he was starting to be glad that Stella had forced him to go shopping before they’d left. He had enough t-shirts that he wouldn’t bake in the heat. And knowing Kono they’d be making frequent trips to the beach. Not that he would have had much choice with Grace, anyway.

“Ailani will show you to your room,” the woman informed him, tipping her head towards the hotel bellboy.

“No, thank you. We’ll manage,” he said. “Which room is it?”

The woman smiled alarmingly wide and insincere.

“Mr. Williams, I really must insist,” she said in a tone that Danny must have heard for the first time in his life.

They must have had some sort of policy about the way customers were treated, and he was making her life more difficult.

“Alright,” he sighed, passing the guy their one suitcase.

He didn’t want to be an asshole, and apparently the omega, Ailani, had met much stranger people than the two of them, because he didn’t even glance at Grace. Maybe he figured that it was his alpha who had made the reservations, and that they would meet up later. His solitude still embarrassed him, but after years of marriage it was hard to get used to the curious looks he got when he showed up by himself with Grace. People assumed too much, and it always led to trouble.

The boy let them through into the elevator, and then he pressed the button to take them to the top floor.

“Um, I think there’s been a mistake,” said Danny hurriedly.

Ailani glanced at the key in his hand, which didn’t have a number, just a huge golden ‘P’.

“You didn’t reserve the penthouse, sir?” the boy asked.

Danny opened his mouth, and then closed it hastily.

“I wasn’t the one who made the reservations,” he replied finally. “Maybe we should go back to the lobby,” he added.

Ailani smiled at him as he simply tipped his head and pressed another button on the elevator. They’d made it all the way to the top, and the trip down was as long as it was unpleasant. At least it wasn’t one of those elevators in which they played that irritating music.

Ailani was nice enough to explain the situation himself, when the woman at the reception desk looked at them in surprise.

“Mr. Williams, I’m sure there hasn’t been any mistake. Our system is very reliable,” she informed him. “Of course, I can call Mr. McGarrett and ask if any mistake was made during the booking process,” she added.

Ailani visibly tensed up, and Danny felt like signing longsufferingly. He’d known this weekend was going to be problematic. He’d just known it.

“Danno?” asked Grace uncertainly.

“We wouldn’t want to bother him,” he decided.

He didn’t know what was worse: bothering the alpha on a Friday afternoon or ending up in the wrong room. Of course, he could protest later that he’d told them to double check the reservation, but they could still charge some of the cost onto his card. If it were just him he’d return home, but Grace was looking up at him, evidently worried.

“If you’re sure, ma’am, then that’s enough for me,” he decided finally. “My daughter heard something about dolphins. When are the activities for children organized, and do you have some sort of price list that I could look through?” he asked.

“Your reservation includes all the attractions, sir,” the woman informed him, and he felt a little like an idiot, because the look on her face clearly said that it was kind of obvious.

It wasn’t his fault that even for his honeymoon they’d gone to Great Britain, and stayed with Rachel’s parents the whole time. He’d never had any reason to stay at a hotel.

“Of course, thanks,” he said.

***

Ailani rode up with them to the top floor, and Danny felt a little weird when the penthouse turned out to be bigger than even his old apartment in New Jersey. Grace seemed stunned, but she didn’t need to hide it in order not to seem like an idiot. The omega who’d brought in their suitcase seemed oddly tense, which was making Danny also anxious.

“This card is the key to the room, and simultaneously a way for you to pay for things. Everything will be added to your bill,” the boy explained.

“Is there any place around here I could eat dinner with a child in peace?” he asked.

“We offer room service on request, sir,” Ailani informed him, and hesitated. “It’s figured into the cost of the reservations,” the man said uncertainly.

“So what do I pay for with this?” he asked curiously, looking at the card in his hand.

“Drinks by the pool,” said Ailani. “There’s also a restaurant downstairs, and our hotel complex includes a casino and a club,” he explained, “but it’ll all be added to the hotel room bill,” he added, looking at him meaningfully enough that Danny finally realized that they’d never asked for his bank account, so it definitely wouldn’t be him that they’d be charging.

He was only partially relieved. It just meant he’d have to be even more careful, because McGarrett would know what he did during these three days. Not that he’d have any time for alcohol. Or any money to gamble with.

“Thank you,” he said quite sincerely.

***

Grace jumped on the bed for a good ten minutes before she let herself be convinced that they’d still be able to go swimming in the pool today. Then she practically tore her swimming suit out of his grasp, giving him a hug along the way.

“Even with Mom we didn’t have a room like this,” she informed him.

And that probably shouldn’t have made him happy. He liked to consider himself a better human being than that, but he really wasn’t. But in the end Grace’s happiness was the most important thing, and she barged out of the bathroom in her pink bathing suit looking like a little butterfly. He just draped a towel over her shoulders, because most people went around the hotel half-naked anyway. They were in damned Hawaii, and that meant a lack of moral inhibitions, apparently. In New Jersey Snooki would have been advertising most of these bathing suits with her much too ample bosom.

It wasn’t quite late enough for them to turn on the pool lights. But he didn’t find a single free lounger from which he’d be able to observe Grace in the water. The lifeguard admittedly sat in his booth, but he could have equally well been observing all those chicks who were emerging from the pool.

He sat at the edge of the water, getting only his legs wet, and waved at Grace, who was having a good time splashing around. The shallow section for kids was filled with hotel toys, but apparently the younger set of guests had been expedited to their rooms by their parents. It wasn’t hot enough that he’d be forced to take off his shirt, so he just propped himself up on his elbows, moving his legs through the water. Grace splashed some water out of the pool, but not enough that it was a problem.

Maybe Hawaii wasn’t all that bad.

***

Grace didn’t let him sleep too long. Jay, the beta from the reception desk, watched them every time they crossed the lobby. Overall, he had a weird impression that people looked at him more than usual. Which wasn’t normal, because they were surrounded by omegas much younger than him and definitely in much better shape. The damned bellboy looked like a catalog model, and apparently the whole gene pool on the island was of equally high quality. Maybe if he’d known, he’d have looked for a partner to have children with here. But that wasn’t true, because he never would have changed his life. That would mean the lack of Grace, and that thought was horrifying.

The sun burned unrelentingly, so it was with a certain hesitance that he pulled off his shirt, keeping just his shorts on. Kono and the rest didn’t pay any attention to his fading scar, but they were more discreet than most. He didn’t know the people around him, and he noticed a couple twenty-something alphas, no doubt full of testosterone. Most of those kinds of assholes thought they had something to prove, but Danny knew how to deal with them. The problem was that this was supposed to be his weekend with Grace, and he didn’t want any incidents.

The captain of his old precinct in New Jersey had told him frankly that it wasn’t a matter of him becoming a bad cop without an alpha to balance him out. It was just that he would draw unwanted attention and become the target of every perp they planned to catch. And nobody cared that the lack of an alpha didn’t really change anything. He was attacked not only by the criminals, but at first even by his own colleagues. It had taken him a while to prove that his status didn’t define him.

And now he was starting all over, and maybe that’s why it hurt so much.

Somebody was standing behind him, he realized only once he noticed that the sun wasn’t burning his back quite so much. He probably should apply some sunscreen, but he didn’t want uneven streaks. Even if his skin ended up peeling.

He raised his head and was faced with a pair of damnably long legs. McGarrett seemed even taller than usual from this perspective. Danny stood up hastily, not knowing if he should greet McGarrett. The alpha was scanning the pool as if looking for something.

“Good morning,” he said finally, scratching the back of his neck uncertainly.

McGarrett grinned at him widely. His shirt was unbuttoned, and he must have left his blazer somewhere - he normally wore one at the club. His rolled-up sleeves revealed solid arms. Danny was a little surprised when he noticed the tattoos on them.

“Which one’s yours?” the alpha asked directly.

“Grace is currently trying to climb the air mattress,” he replied, and then tensed up when he realized McGarrett had taken advantage of his moment of distraction to look at the scar on his neck.

“She has your nose,” the man said noncommittally. “And I knew I’d see you without a tie eventually,” the alpha laughed. “Do you guys have everything you need?” he asked.

“Actually, about the room, I think there was some kind of mistake, Mr. McGarrett,” he began.

The asshole had to know what Danny was talking about, because a fucking smirk appeared on his face. Maybe he was waiting for Danny to tell him it was too much. Or that they hadn’t been expecting anything like it. It was definitely too expensive for them, and they could stop pretending. McGarrett knew exactly how much Danny made, considering he’s the one who paid him.

“There’s no mistake,” said the alpha, before Danny could add anything further. “You’re in the only free room. Hardly anybody ever rents it,” McGarrett explained.

Danny was damned grateful that the alpha didn’t try to prove to him that putting them up in the penthouse was cheapest, since the less expensive rooms could be given to paying guests. He didn’t like being treated like an idiot.

He was a little surprised when he felt someone climbing his back. Grace glued herself to his overheated skin and apparently wanted to climb higher, because she grabbed at his shoulder, almost pushing his shorts off his butt in the process. He was seconds away from having his hair pulled.

“Grace, what the -” he began, irritated, pulling her back down.

McGarrett snorted with amusement.

“You wanted a look at me, right, little alpha?” the man asked.

“Grace, no,” Danny said, putting everything he had into it.

She looked at him, offended, and then at McGarrett, who smiled at her slightly.

“I’m Steve,” the alpha introduced himself, kneeling down in front of Danny’s daughter.

Grace looked McGarrett straight in the eye, which was what she’d probably planned from the very beginning. If she thought she could scare off a grown alpha that way, she was deeply mistaken.

“I’m sorry about her,” Danny said hurriedly, but McGarrett held up a finger and waved it in his direction, as if telling Danny not to interrupt.

As if they were having some kind of alpha meeting on a higher level.

“It’s nice to meet you, Grace. Your dad talks about you a lot,” the man said.

“Dad never said anything about you,” she replied, and it didn’t sound polite.

McGarrett laughed, as if he’d never heard anything more amusing. Danny, on the other hand, felt as if the ground was about to give out underneath him. If he didn’t manage to temper Grace’s outbursts, Rachel would finally have to react.

“Apparently your dad likes you more than me,” observed McGarrett.

Grace seemed satisfied with that.

“Have you swam with the dolphins yet?” the alpha asked, easily changing the subject.

“Not yet. Danno said we have to wait for them to let them out, because dolphins also sleep sometimes,” Grace informed him.

“Christ, dolphins don’t sleep during the day. What are you teaching this poor kid, Danno?” the alpha snorted. “I’ll call someone and take you guys to the dolphins, okay?” asked McGarrett.

Grace wrinkled her brows, as if this wasn’t actually to her liking.

“You work here?” she asked.

“This is my hotel,” McGarrett replied.

The wrinkle between Grace’s brows deepened.

“So you’re rich,” she stated.

“Grace,” Danny growled warningly.

But his little girl turned to him and grabbed him solidly by the hand, suddenly completely ignoring McGarrett.

“Danno, I don’t want dolphins anymore,” she informed him, looking at him pleadingly. “Can we go back home? Aunt Kono said she was gonna be at the beach today,” she added.

“Grace,” he started uncertainly, “We came all this way -”

“But I don’t want to,” she said, interrupting him mid-word, and she clenched her teeth so hard he could almost see the muscles of her jaw.

Disoriented, he looked up at McGarrett, not even knowing if he should begin with an apology. Grace started pulling him towards the hotel exit, so he simply held her tighter, not letting her move him. She seemed upset like never before, and he was starting to lose his composure. It didn’t help at all that the alpha was observing them with fucking curiosity written all over his face.

Grace hadn’t had these kinds of mood swings in a long time. She had seemed perfectly happy in their room just a few hours ago. And she hadn’t been able to stop talking about the dolphins. She’d wanted to see Kono mainly so she could tell her all about their weekend. And he knew all her friends were waiting for the story. Not all of them had been to this hotel.

“Grace, are you sure…” he started.

“Grace, look at me,” McGarrett talked over him. “If you want, you guys can go back home. I’ll tell the lady at the reception that the reservation is still good, and you’ll be able to come back here whenever you want. Or we could agree that I’ll leave now, and you can swim with the dolphins. And we’ll only see each other again when it’s time for you guys to go home,” the alpha offered. “I won’t bother your dad this weekend,” he promised her. “Danno’ll be all yours. Really, I just wanted to meet you, because Danno talks about you all the time,” he continued. “So what’s it gonna be?” he asked.

“Mr. McGarrett,” Danny began, with no idea how he was supposed to react.

“Easy, Danny, this is a matter between alphas, right, Grace?” the guy asked. Danny really hated him sometimes.

But Grace seemed calmer.

“Okay, we’ll stay, but you won’t be here,” said his little girl.

They would definitely be talking about this later.

“I won’t. I’ll only come back to see you guys off. And if I keep my word, everything will be alright between us?” asked McGarrett. 

Grace pressed her lips into a hard line, as if she was giving the matter serious consideration.

“Yes,” she decided finally.

The alpha held out a hand to her and they shook solemnly, which probably would have amused Danny normally, if he’d had any idea what was going on.

“Make sure for me that Danny calls for a masseuse. He complains about his back all the time,” said McGarrett.

“Okay,” agreed Grace. “Goodbye,” she added, in a tone that implied she was dismissing the man.

“You have one hell of an alpha here, Danno,” McGarrett informed him, before turning on his heel and simply going on his way.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This would have been posted sooner if I wasn't having formatting issues. Maybe someone can explain this to me.
> 
> When I first started translating this fic, I used two hard returns to put space between paragraphs. I copied it over to the AO3 HTML window, AO3 added paragraph tags, it worked great.
> 
> Then my Google Docs file got too long and I was getting weird loading errors, so I started a new one. Only now when I pasted my chapter over to AO3, I was getting two line breaks, which AO3 interpreted as me wanting and extra set of empty paragraph tags between every paragraph. Okay, I thought, maybe my settings for this document are different somehow. I sucked it up, deleted all the extra spaces manually, and set Google Docs to add space after every paragraph. Now I only had to do one hard return between paragraphs while typing. I copied it over to AO3, AO3 put in the paragraph tags, it worked great again. For a couple of chapters.
> 
> Except when I tried to copy this chapter over, I didn't get paragraph tags, I got line break tags. And when I tried to manually add the spacing back in between paragraph in my source document, I got the extra empty paragraph tags, no matter what I did to the settings. So I can choose between extra long spacing between paragraphs or no spacing at all.
> 
> Why, people, why? It's still the same document, why is it acting different all of a sudden? I'm using the same computer, the same browser. I kind of want to blame Google Doc's weird predictive formatting thing - which I thought was neat at first, but now kind of hate, since there seems to be no way to tell exactly what it's doing, or why, or a way to tell it to stop - complicated by the fact I'm using a table to format the original Polish vs the English translation of every chapter.
> 
> But whatever it is, it is infuriating, and I have no idea how to fix it.
> 
> I have given up for now. Have a chapter, and know every paragraph break was hand-crafted with extra love and attention.

Grace stayed stubbornly silent when he tried to find out what had been going through her head. And he didn’t yell, though he raised his voice a little, because his daughter should know how to behave herself. This wasn’t what he’d taught her, and he couldn’t even imagine what McGarrett must think of him. People blamed omegas for the bad behavior of children a bit too often for him not to be embarrassed by that little display he’d witnessed.

The alpha had seemed amused by Grace’s attitude, but that didn’t excuse it.

“Grace, just tell me…” he began.

“You won’t understand,” she informed him finally, quite calmly.

“I think you’re not giving me enough credit, young lady,” he replied, folding his arms over his chest. “Do you really want to do this this way? You can stay in this room until tomorrow, but I’m sure you’d have a lot of fun outside.”

She pressed her lips together and let out a long sigh.

“You won’t understand because you’re not an alpha, Danno,” she told him finally. “I’m sorry, and I know I was bad, but…”

“But?” he prompted.

“He’s the one who invited us here?” she asked bluntly.

“Yes,” he replied, because he didn’t see a reason to hide it. “He hired me and he’s my boss. It’s a welcoming present,” he added, skirting the truth a little, but his little girl didn’t need to know that their first meeting also hadn’t gone all that well.

Maybe he really was too tense, too prone to going for people’s throats, but he couldn’t locate the dangers in this place. Grace probably sensed his anxiety and tried to act as his alpha, even though she shouldn’t. That explained why she examined the people surrounding him so closely. She hadn’t been nice to the guy at the store, but he was nobody, and besides that he’d acted like an asshole. But McGarrett carried a strange aura about himself, and it was hard to guess what he was about.

He’d managed to calm down Danny’s daughter down by the pool, averting a minor crisis. Maybe Grace wanted to get him as far away as possible from yet another strange alpha, because she felt uncomfortable.

“Mr. McGarrett isn’t going to replace your mom,” he said, looking her straight in the eyes. 

“I don’t intend to date anyone,” he added.

She looked at him with furrowed brows.

“You still love Mom?” she asked quietly.

He opened his mouth, then closed it quickly. He had no idea how to answer that question.

“I love _you_ ,” he said, smiling slightly.

“And Mom loves Stan. I heard her tell him that,” said Grace. “And you love only me. It’s not fair,” she stated. “But I don’t want you to love anybody else. And that’s also not fair,” she added, and her lower lip started to tremble suspiciously.

Her eyes hadn’t started to tear up yet, but he knew that face well, so he simply knelt down in front of her and gathered her up in his arms.

“I won’t, anymore,” she promised him.

Though he wasn’t altogether sure what she was referring to.

***

He hadn’t expected them to actually see McGarrett again, but the alpha was waiting for them in the lobby when they came down to check out on Monday morning. Grace thankfully started school late enough in the day that they could let themselves have an extended vacation.

The alpha was talking to the hotel manager, apparently going over the details of some sort of upcoming party, because the man was taking notes like crazy. Danny tried not to stare, but it was hard. McGarrett was wearing pants tight enough that they left little to the imagination, and the beta sitting behind the reception counter also had trouble concentrating. He’d almost sympathize with her, if not for the fact that she’d treated him like an idiot the last time they’d seen each other. And she stared at him now, which made him uncomfortable.

“We’d like to check out,” he informed the woman, not too loudly.

But McGarrett turned in his direction anyway, with a stupid grin on his face.

“And so you can go around without a tie,” said the alpha. “Are you guys all rested?” he asked almost immediately, coming closer.

The beta made space for him so fast she almost tripped. Those kinds of maneuvers were undoubtedly dangerous to perform while wearing stilettos.

“Yes, Mr. McGarrett,” said Grace, in a surprisingly polite tone of voice.

And that relieved Danny a little, because it meant she intended to keep her promise.

“It was great,” he added quickly. “A great hotel, wonderful service,” he added, not knowing what else he was supposed to say. “Really, thank you.”

“Steve,” the alpha interrupted.

“Mr. McGarrett,” he replied.

The man smiled slightly.

“So I kept my word, Grace,” the alpha reminded Danny’s daughter, completely unnecessarily.

Grace had kept an eye on their surroundings for only a few hours after their last meeting. By Sunday she’d no doubt forgotten about their last conversation.

“Yes,” his little girl admitted.

“I’m Steve,” the alpha introduced himself.

Grace looked at him for a long moment, as if she didn’t know what to do with that fact. She even narrowed her eyes dangerously, but she relaxed so quickly Danny didn’t even have time to react.

“Grace Williams,” she replied. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. McGarrett,” she added.

“Can we exchange a few words, while your dad signs you guys out?” asked Steve, glancing briefly in Danny’s direction.

“No,” he said, at the same time as Grace voiced her agreement.

He looked at her, simply raising an eyebrow. McGarrett continued to grin like an idiot. Danny suspected they were the same age, but it was hard to see when the man was radiating so much joy. Maybe the sun preserved the locals like the sands of Egypt had once done to their mummies. He didn’t want to get skin cancer.

“Alpha business, Danno,” McGarrett informed him. “Just a few words, and we won’t even go too far away,” he added quite unnecessarily, because Grace was looking at him pleadingly.

The guy probably took satisfaction from being able to say those words. And apparently, according to Grace, Danny couldn’t understand her. He’d been aware that the situation would get more complicated as his daughter grew up, but he’d figured he still had some time left. She’d been showing more independence lately, and he didn’t intend to stifle her, but Rachel would need to talk to her. He just didn’t want the lack of understanding between an omega-father and alpha-daughter to become an issue in court.

“Okay, go off and be self-important,” he snorted, pretending the matter didn’t concern him at all.

“Danno, you know it’s not like that,” said Grace.

“Exactly, Danno. You know it’s not like that,” moaned McGarrett.

Grace smiled widely at him, as if this support really suited her. Or maybe the asshole simply amused her.

“Alright, alright,” he snorted. “Just stay within my line of sight,” he asked her.

***

Returning home was strange. Their apartment seemed even smaller than when they’d first unpacked. He hadn’t picked up his phone the whole weekend, but he hadn’t missed much. Only Kono had contacted him, texting about the size of the waves at the beach, which only reinforced his decision that he shouldn’t allow Grace to go into the water. The world seemed a little bit better. Even Rachel seemed less spiteful, but maybe Danny just got that mistaken impression.

McGarrett wasn’t at the club when he came in that same evening. Jenna was already polishing glasses, so he joined her promptly, feeling a little lost. Waiters of the same college-age as Kono and Max were talking in that musical language that only sometimes intersected with English. Kamekona’s cousin stood in the doorway, along with a big, black man whose accent would have fit better in Chicago than Honolulu.

“How was the weekend?” asked Jenna, grinning at him widely.

“Do you guys always gossip this much?” he scoffed.

“Only if there’s someone to gossip about,” she admitted. “Besides, you’re not gonna tell me that three days in a hotel with the boss are gonna pass by without comment. Did you guys see each other?” she asked bluntly.

“This was my weekend with Grace,” he reminded her.

She seemed terribly disappointed.

“And you didn’t see the boss?” she asked.

He let a long sigh pass his lips.

“I knew it! Tell me!” she said, crowding up to him, as if she wanted to emphasize her interest.

“It was my weekend with Grace, and McGarrett kept his distance,” was all he said, not adding that apparently his daughter had guaranteed them some peace.

It was only partially irritating that the asshole had listened to an eight-year-old just because she was an alpha. And Gace hadn’t wanted to admit what it was they’d talked about, explaining it was some sort of damned secret. He had no idea why and when they’d started to keep secrets from each other, but it had to do with McGarrett, as if he hadn’t previously hated the guy enough. His relationship with Grace was suffering and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Alright, alright. So how did your room look? My friend works at Paradise, and she says the decor is out of this world,” said Jenna.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. The penthouse reservation turned out to have been McGarrett’s plan from the start, but he still felt embarrassed that they’d spent three days there. He didn’t even want to imagine the bill, especially since their meals had apparently been covered up front. Normally he’d be angry, but he definitely wouldn’t have dared to order such expensive meals, not knowing where the limit was. The fucking masseusse on Sunday evening had probably tipped the scale anyway, but he hadn’t wanted to kick the woman out of the room when she came in on the boss’s orders. Most of the hotel staff had followed him with their eyes and gossiped, which wasn’t anything new. Probably by the end of the month everyone on the island would know about the scar on his neck and McGarrett’s invitation. The alpha probably entertained enough omegas that he didn’t care what people said about him. Maybe Danny also wouldn’t have given a fuck about it, if he was a decade younger, but he had a daughter who could hear about it at school. And he wanted to avoid that.

Kids could be vicious, when it came to matters of divorce, or families which were abnormal according to their standards. 

“The room was okay,” was all he said.

“Did the boss skimp out?” asked Jenna disbelievingly.

“No,” he replied shortly. “Christ, will you give it a rest? It was okay. Grace had a lot of fun. He met us at the reception desk to see us off. That’s all you’re gonna get from me,” he finished, folding his arms over his chest.

But Jenna had her cell already in her hand.

“Are you texting Kono?” he asked disbelievingly.

“I’m texting everybody,” she admitted, without a trace of shame.

***

When he went back to his normal shift, Kono grinned at him like an idiot, glancing in the direction of the office McGarrett normally occupied. Danny didn’t even have to ask what that was supposed to mean, because he’d seen the hellishly expensive car in the employee parking lot. Nobody present would have been able to afford a toy like that, and it just begged the question of just how many cars the alpha owned.

“I heard you had a wonderful weekend,” said Kono.

“I heard curiosity killed the cat,” he replied.

She continued smiling at him, unmoved.

“I heard Kamekona beat up some alpha in front of the club today,” she stated.

He instinctively glanced at Max, who was wiping tables without a care in the world. The omega seemed calm and composed. Kamekona had a wide, mean smile on his face. Apparently Max had decided he didn’t want to carry children after all. At least not now, or for that particular alpha. Sometimes it was enough to suggest to someone that they had a choice, because some people didn’t realize it. He didn’t know Max’s parents, but there was probably more than one family around here that was crazy about tradition. Fortunately his own Ma had a strong enough character that she could clip his father’s wings every time he tried to do or say something stupid. And he was proud to have inherited her stubbornness and free will.

Kono’s smile widened, and Danny didn’t need to turn around to know who was standing behind him. McGarrett’s presence had been overwhelming from the very beginning, and Danny had thought he’d get used to the way the alpha emanated power and confidence. He’d had a chance to observe his behavior at the hotel, and he’d seen the way people would make way for him when McGarrett walked down hallways. His employees generally had a lot of respect for him. Danny just wasn’t sure how much of that feeling was based on fear.

“Still in a tie?” the alpha asked disbelievingly.

“Professional dress,” Danny reminded him shortly.

McGarrett smiled at him widely.

“That’s great. You like to look professional on the job,” the man stated.

It sounded like a damned trap, but Danny couldn’t see the danger for now. Maybe McGarrett intended to comment on his hairiness, which wasn’t typical for an omega. In Hawaii even the alphas walked around shaved smooth, but he liked the way he looked. And despite what people thought, he took care of himself.

“Exactly, Mr. McGarrett,” he agreed carefully.

“Steve, please,” said the man, mostly out of habit.

They both knew Danny wouldn’t break that easily.

“So, professional dress,” repeated the alpha. “I talked with my business advisor, and we found a new manager for the club. Victoria looked the place over and made a few suggestions for a change of atmosphere,” he continued.

Danny fucking hoped McGarrett wasn’t about to tell them them he was turning the place into a strip club. It didn’t make him feel any better that Kono looked as surprised as he felt. After all, the two of them knew each other in their private lives, and that little omega seemed to make a hobby of collecting gossip. How could she have missed something like this?

“Sand, bikinis,” the alpha continued. “Of course, this means you’ll have to fit yourselves into the atmosphere. Victoria strongly suggested that showing a bit more skin wouldn’t hurt, and would be good for business,” explained McGarrett. “No jeans or long-sleeved shirts. We’re throwing our clothes off, ladies and gentlemen. From now on, we’re working at the beach,” he informed them. “Tomorrow everything will be reorganized, and you’ll all start an hour later than normally,” he added.

Danny knew his jaw was around the general area of his knees.

“You’re joking?!” he scoffed.

McGarrett smiled widely at him.

“Professional dress,” the alpha reminded him spitefully. “That means I want you shirtless,” he clarified. “Just like the rest,” he added, though Danny didn’t doubt that the dolt with an overgrowth of ambition had just redesigned the whole club just to see him without a tie.

It wasn’t hard to guess that despite his supposed lack of reaction, that lost battle - at least initially - about Danny’s form of dress must have been irritating McGarrett. Until he’d finally found a way to win it. And Danny hated that self-satisfied smirk. He couldn’t even describe this level of craziness. What normal person would go to so much trouble to force somebody to get rid of one small strip of fabric? Maybe he should be grateful that McGarrett hadn’t just ripped it off of his neck every evening.

He looked at Kono with the hope that she could explain anything to him, but she just looked back at them, completely disoriented.

“Mr. McGarrett,” he began, in a mild, professional tone. 

“Steve,” the alpha prompted him, as if he’d been playing around earlier.

And maybe it amused him, that he had that much power over them. Maybe he thought he could snap his fingers and Danny would really strip off his shirt and tie. And then the pants would come off - he didn’t have the least bit of doubt about it. And it irritated him, because he wasn’t one of _those_ omegas, no matter how much of the island it was that McGarrett fucking owned. He probably shouldn’t have agreed to that weekend at his hotel, because all of those people who’d stared at him were suddenly completely justified. Maybe he was supposed to be McGarrett’s latest conquest, and they were travelling down a well-trodden path. At first the alpha would brag about his wealth, and then he’d have him naked.

If McGarrett was waiting for that, he could wait forever.

“You neanderthal, what right do you have to deprive me of my tie?” he asked, gaping at the man, who didn’t twitch even a millimeter.

And that smirk seemed pasted onto his face.

“You have so many problems, I don’t even know where to start. Your control issues are out of control,” he informed him. “This is why I hate alphas. You never know when to leave well enough alone. My ‘no’ wasn’t an invitation for you to conquer anything, because there’s nothing to conquer, you testosterone-filled moron,” he barked.

“You’re a little sensitive about yourself. I’ve noticed that before,” interrupted McGarrett.

“Sensitive? You know what’s going to be sensitive, when I’m done with you?” he asked frankly.

“You’ll call for help?” the alpha asked.

“An ambulance,” he replied.

McGarrett smiled at him even wider, not treating him at all like a threat. And Danny didn’t try to hit him, because the asshole was a former SEAL. Maybe calling for help wasn’t such a stupid idea. Kono might turn out to be enraged enough that she’d kick the ass of the alpha who had incidentally suggested they’d end up in bathing suits.

“You’re charming when you’re mad,” said McGarrett. “But, Danno, this really wasn’t even my idea,” he added.

“Don’t call me Danno. Only my daughter calls me that,” he growled.

“She gave me permission,” the alpha informed him, quite seriously.

His lips fell open, then closed just as quickly. He had no response to that. It would be undoubtedly spectacular, if he was to storm out of there, slamming the door behind him, but this was his only job, and the asshole knew it. He might as well pack up and go back to New Jersey, and that was out of the question for many reasons. He had no doubt now that Rachel wouldn’t sign another agreement to relocate Grace. 

“It surely won’t be that bad,” said the alpha, shifting his weight from side to side anxiously, as if his sudden silence had knocked him off balance. “You’re not angry, are you?” the man asked.

Danny was too upset to describe it in just one word.

“No, Mr. McGarrett,” was all he replied.

“Call me Steve,” asked the alpha, and something strange passed over his face. “Don’t be mad at me. If Victoria’s idea doesn’t pan out, we’ll go back to the way it was,” he promised.

But Danny didn’t fucking believe him. He wasn’t an easily swayed eight-year-old. He knew troglodytes of McGarrett’s type, who always got whatever they wanted. Or who took it by force, when it tried to escape them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the rant last chapter, people. Once I stopped trying to get it to work the way it's supposed to, I remembered 'find and replace' is a thing. :)

Kono stared at the scrap of fabric which was apparently supposed to be her new uniform. He’d seen the girls who served tourists at the beach, and this really wasn’t that different from what they wore. And Kono didn’t seem particularly angry, for which he was damned grateful, because his regrets had grown overnight. It was only when he went home at the end of his shift that he realized he had essentially yelled at McGarrett. Maybe the guy had provoked him on purpose, Danny wasn’t sure. He definitely hadn’t reacted as expected, or maybe just the knowledge that he was better trained than the bartender he’d hired gave the man satisfaction. Danny couldn’t do anything for so many reasons that he was starting to feel trapped. The last time he’d felt like this was when he’d realized Rachel hadn’t just intended to leave, she’d wanted to take Grace with her. And he didn’t have the money for a good lawyer.

Lori came back from the bathroom, adjusting the thin material over her hips. It barely covered anything. McGarrett fortunately hadn’t had the idea to dump a heap of sand inside the club, but the walls got decorated with Polynesian masks. Before the island theme had been much more subtle; now they had to deal with palm trees sticking out of weird places, and jungle-like greenery everywhere.

Danny hated it.

“I’m really sorry, people, but the guy is insane,” he began, but Kono placed a calming hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“We know,” the girl replied. “Only, you know… we have a suggestion, brah. If you could maybe start calling him by his first name,” she asked.

He looked at her in pure surprise.

“No, seriously. Think about it. We ended up in bikinis because he didn’t like your tie. Can you imagine what he’d do to get you on a first-name basis?” Kono asked, entirely rhetorically.

And Danny really had no idea how this was supposed to escalate, but when it came to McGarrett there was no such thing as certainty. He understood Kono’s fears completely. The alpha was a lunatic. And a neanderthal who used his own contract against him. Just because he happened to be their boss didn’t mean he should abuse that power for his own purposes. And Danny had no doubts that it all came down to his tie. McGarrett had mentioned it too often, and Danny, as an experienced omega, should have been able to sense the danger hanging in the air. The problem was that the man hadn’t done anything threatening to him or any of the other employees. He didn’t even touch them too often, and the staring he limited to Danny.

He stripped reluctantly and pulled on the shorts, which of course prevented him from being able to wear underwear. They were much too narrow, in his opinion, but maybe there was a certain fairness to that, because Kono and Lori ended up with their chests on display. Flip-flops weren’t the kind of footwear he would have chosen without a fight, but if he was supposed to look like a fucking islander, he had to dot his i’s and cross his t’s. He only hoped this wouldn’t end with Kono taking him to get a tattoo, because neither surfboards nor especially waves appealed to him all that much.

“You look great,” said Lori.

He sucked in his stomach, but it didn’t make much difference. At least the scar from where he’d given birth to Grace was hidden. Though he didn’t know how low-cut those shorts would have had to be for it to be visible. Overall, he still felt naked. And maybe they’d really be more comfortable working without sweat trickling down their backs, but his clothing was an armor that separated him from the world.

“Will you check something for me?” he asked quietly, coming back behind the bar. “Can you see it?” he asked directly, leaning forward as if he was taking an order or serving a drink.

Lori seemed disoriented at first, but then she looked at the place his neck met his shoulder. And she shook her head no.

“The light is too bright,” she assured him.

“Fantastic,” he snorted.

At least they would be partially hidden behind the bar. He was already preparing himself for the obscene commentary that would take place that evening. There was something about the alphas who vacationed on the islands that he found impossibly irritating. First of all, they all thought they could hit on the locals. And when it didn’t work out for them, they all turned to them with the hope that the employees wouldn’t rebuff their advances. Kono didn’t even pay them any attention, because their comments were indiscriminate, but him they tried to approach in many different ways. One of those alphas had even turned out to be from New Jersey, which apparently justified him trying to get into Danny’s pants.

McGarrett came into the club at a run, as if he was seriously late. And Danny felt strange when he realized that the woman who followed him in must have been their new manager. She had loose hair and a flush which really didn’t leave a lot of room for speculation. If that was how you got a promotion, he would stop wondering why Kono remained a waitress.

“This is Victoria,” said the alpha, glancing at him briefly.

Danny only folded his arms across his chest, straightening up, since he had no intention of saying anything. He still wasn’t ready to hold a civil conversation. He always felt this way whenever someone forcefully deprived him of his clothes, which happened more often than you’d think. Their police doctor had been an alpha, and it probably didn’t make much difference to betas or to people equal to his status, but he’d treated omegas like shit. Danny had fought him for every scrap of fabric every year when it came time to do annual physicals, because nobody could convince him you needed to strip to do blood tests. Unless the guy intended to draw blood from his ass.

And he’d probably agree with that suggestion.

“Vicky, this is our little club _ohana_. I hope you’ll make yourself at home,” continued McGarrett. “Can I count on everyone to help her through the first few days as she gets used to the job?” asked the alpha.

It’d been awhile since Danny had seen such a complete lack of energy in everyone. Victoria wasn’t an alpha, but she had about her a strange sort of aura. Her long nails weren’t painted red, and she wasn’t wearing any dramatic makeup, but she radiated something he didn’t like one bit.

“Of course,” said Kono, with fake enthusiasm.

“Excellent, because we’re getting a corporate party in at the last minute. We’ll have more people in than usual today. Chin, Kame, Victoria will give you the guest list. Try not to let in all of the regulars,” said McGarrett, and then his gaze fell on Danny, and this time for much longer.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the alpha was trying to see the scar on his skin even despite the unfriendly light. Danny had thought he hadn’t been watched at the pool, when they’d met at the hotel, but McGarrett could have been hiding behind some fucking palm tree for hours and he wouldn’t have noticed, as focused as he had been on Grace.

He straightened up despite himself and looked the man straight in the eyes, not even concealing his irritation.

“Danno, don’t be angry,” said McGarrett, and this was probably all great fun to him.

After all, he wasn’t the one in Danny’s situation.

“You’re an asshole, Steven,” he informed him with all the dignity he could muster while wearing those shorts.

He expected some sort of irritation, but the alpha grinned back at him widely.

“And a lunatic,” he continued.

“And a neanderthal,” Steve prompted him.

“Yeah, that, too,” he agreed.

The alpha seemed overjoyed. Maybe whatever it was he’d been doing with Victoria earlier had put him in an excellent mood. Danny, unfortunately, couldn’t say the same thing about himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had sex. It was sometime back when his marriage to Rachel had still made sense. Meaning a very long time ago. He couldn’t make love to somebody he had no ties to. An emotional connection had always been fundamental for him, which is why he had a hard time understanding casual sex.

But McGarrett was glowing, so he probably could have explained a thing or two about it to him.

***

Victoria moved quietly, and Danny watched her uncertainly over the course of the first few hours. The woman climbed to the second floor along with Steve, but she occupied the office next door, which had been hastily prepared earlier that same day. She only returned around midnight, taking up a spot at the bar and scanning the place with her eyes, as if looking for something wrong, which was ridiculous, because they all knew how to do their jobs.

And really, it didn’t do anything to make their jobs easier. Max was visibly anxious. Maybe even more so than he was in McGarrett’s presence. The kid apparently just didn’t like strangers, and Danny fully supported his phobia. For him, new acquaintances always resulted in trouble. He didn’t make a good first impression, but then again he didn’t try all that hard. Hiding who he was just so people would like him had never been in his nature.

“I don’t like this,” said Lori, glancing at Victoria pointedly.

The woman had given Steve the idea to strip them, but she herself had on stilettoes and an elegant dress. He couldn’t decide if he felt more like a stripper or like a homeless person next to her. Maybe the expensive watch on her arm was a present from McGarrett. Somehow he couldn’t categorize her, which was something that had been bothering him from the beginning.

“This isn’t a democracy,” he replied. “Otherwise I would have voted for Kono.”

“But the boss can’t do this to us again,” moaned Lori. “You don’t know what kind of hell we were in with Jack. That’s why Kono adores you, because she knows even if the new manager started to harass us again, you’d kick his ass, or you’d tell Steve. We were too scared to say anything for weeks,” she informed him.

“You guys are safe,” he assured her. “We have Chin and Kamekona.”

“We’ve got you,” Lori interjected. “You couldn’t tell him you don’t like her?” she asked hopefully.

“Oh, and then the big, bad alpha will shoo Victoria away?” he mocked.

Lori smiled at him dopily.

“When you mentioned that Rachel was taking Grace away for the weekend, he invited you to the hotel,” the girl reminded him. “Maybe it’ll work again this time?” she said hopefully.

Danny rolled his eyes.

“You’re sweet,” he informed her, “but McGarrett and our new manager… you know,” he said suggestively, glancing at the woman, who was staring at Max as if he was her newest target.

Overall, she wasn’t really doing anything. But she could have left the boy alone when she saw how much the scrutiny bothered him.

Lori looked back at him, shocked.

“No,” she burst out.

He wasn’t even eager to say ‘yes’ in that same shocked tone of voice.

“No,” she repeated stubbornly. “The boss isn’t -” she cut herself off when her eyes fell on Victoria.

The woman was now looking back at them, so Lori busied herself cutting lemons, though they had a few minutes of peace for now, since the ViP section had just been served. More businessmen were visiting their club, and Danny was quietly counting on better tips. They didn’t seem to be particular friends of McGarrett’s, though, because the alpha didn’t come out of his office.

“You’re definitely wrong. I’ve never seen him be interested in anybody,” Lori informed him stubbornly.

“I’m just telling you what my gut is telling me,” Danny replied calmly. “Look at it this way. Imagine you’re pulling over your patrol car, because a car is sitting on the side of the road with its emergency lights on. You walk up, knock, shine in your flashlight, and see those two. Your conclusion?” he asked simply.

Lori’s jaw dropped, and he could swear he saw a blush on her face.

“But he invited you to the hotel with your daughter,” the girl moaned.

“As an apology, or just because he could,” Danny replied calmly. “I’m stubborn. Different. I show who rules here, and who can do more. I’ve been through this before,” he informed her calmly.

***

Grace was asleep when he got home and looked in on her for a moment. Chin really was planning to pop in the following Monday and paint in some waves. Kono had been mentioning that sunny, sandy colors would expand the place optically. He didn’t intend to protest. And maybe he should think about some sort of real bed in the future, though he didn’t know where he was supposed to fit in another piece of furniture.

At least his clothes weren’t soaked through with the smell of smoke and alcohol this time. He couldn’t say the same about his skin.

Victoria had swooped down on Max towards the end of their shift, and the boy had returned to work even more upset. She seemed like one of those unbending betas with whom there was no room for discussion. He’d known a few people like that, but he had no idea how this situation would unfold. Up until now he’d worked with them on a basis of mutual respect. After all, coexisting with alphas wasn’t too easy for anyone, but back then his life had been limited to the precinct. In the club, the only male who might turn out to be a problem was McGarrett, and he was more of an asshole than a threat. At least he’d been swapped out of the box Danny had initially placed him in.

He rested his head against the cool tiles. He was starting to slowly get used to working nights, though he wouldn’t have said no to a nice, long, uninterrupted sleep.

***

Grace came back from school with a DVD in her hands. Apparently nowadays they encouraged kids to watch TV in school. In his time it’d been different, he could perfectly remember his mother chasing them out from in front of that talking box. Stella had always preferred books, but he and Matty had inevitably ended up at the neighborhood park, where he’d painfully learned the difference between omegas and the rest of the population. It hadn’t helped that he’d been skilled and fast. Unless Matty had been the captain of one of the teams, he hadn’t been picked until it turned out they’d had an odd number of players.

He sliced vegetables, throwing them on the pan, and then he and Grace high-fived, because his little girl was already adding spices to the whole thing. The kid had a much more refined sense of taste than him, so they complemented each other perfectly. She was the director in the kitchen, and above all she never complained about his cooking, since she was in charge of the salt.

“And then Sara said that it wasn’t true that I was at the hotel, playing with the dolphins,” continued Grace. “I told her it was true, because you work for Mr. McGarrett,” she added.

“Did you show them the pictures?” he asked.

“Yes. Sara was _so_ angry,” she informed him with satisfaction. “She always says I’m lying, even though I’m not lying. We _are_ from New Jersey, and I _did_ see the Statue of Liberty. You and Mom took me there a few times. I remember perfectly,” she said, offended.

“Some kids haven’t been on any great trips, sweetheart. That’s why they’re sad sometimes. And when they’re sad, sometimes they’re unpleasant,” he explained. “That doesn’t mean you should alpha around about how much we’ve visited. Do you know how far away New Jersey is from us now? For anyone from Hawaii to see the Statue of Liberty, they’d have to fly there in an airplane,” he said. “Besides, think about it this way: there’s a lot of things around here the girls in your class have seen already, that you haven’t yet.”

“Mom wants to fly to Maui again,” interrupted Grace.

“To see the valley,” he said carefully.

Grace pressed her lips together.

“Can’t we see the dolphins again?” she asked hopefully.

“No, sweetheart. For now we can’t, but we’ll think about it for your birthday?” he risked.

He’d checked the prices of admission, and he really did love his kidneys. He hoped Rachel would be willing to split the costs. The kid was starting to get obsessed with water, and it probably wouldn’t pass any time soon. Kono had found him a store with some completely respectable surfboards, and he intended to haggle to the last penny after he got his next paycheck, because he suspected that having the two of them meet at the beach would result in lessons in that terrible sport, which would give him a heart attack.

Grace tipped her head, taking that under consideration.

“What did you talk about with Mr. McGarrett?” he asked, careful to keep his tone casual.

Grace looked at him, narrowing her eyes.

“Alpha business,” was all she said, quoting Steve.

He should have suspected that all his attempts to teach Grace the proper way to express herself would fall apart in this hell, where people chirped instead of talked.

***

He pulled on his shorts and touched his stomach, the muscles of which weren’t necessarily in all that great a shape. He probably could have worked out more, but he couldn’t imagine what he was supposed to give up. He slept while Grace was at school, and then he picked her up and they spent the whole afternoon together. Even though he really didn’t want to admit it, in New Jersey they hadn’t had so much time together. He was starting to appreciate working nights.

Kono took one of the trays from behind the bar and started to distribute the ashtrays. Danny was sure half of them would fill up with the butts of joints, but Chin had warned him that the local cops didn’t consider weed to be drugs. Calling the cops to the club every evening because he smelled marijuana in the air would amuse them more than anything. Besides which, police raids were bad for business, so he needed to turn off his inner cop a little.

He scratched the back of his neck nervously, glancing at Victoria, who was engrossed with texting on her phone. The woman wasn’t particularly friendly. He didn’t even know her last name, but somehow no one went up to talk to her for too long. Even Kono kept herself at a distance from her, though if someone had looked at him the way Victoria looked at Kalakaua, he would have fucked off, too.

“Hey, I have this problem,” he said, feeling a little like an idiot.

Kono looked at him with surprise. Somehow asking for help didn’t come easily to him, and up to this point the omega had more or less forced him to cooperate with her. He’d already declined a few invitations to her house for a family cookout, and he was under the impression that if he did it again he’d get a lecture on the subject of _ohana_ and the responsibilities thereof. The Kalakaua-Kelly clan wasn’t a family he’d chosen so much as one who’d chosen him. And it seemed he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“Do you have a television?” he asked directly.

Kono snorted.

“Yes, Danny, I have a television,” she informed him, amused.

“That’s great, because it turns out Grace’s laptop doesn’t play DVD’s, and she needs to watch a movie for class. She could do it at Rachel’s house, but…” he trailed off.

Grace didn’t want to spend more time in Stan’s house than was necessary.

“So you’ll finally come visit me?” asked Kono with a smile.

“If it wouldn’t be a bother,” he said.

“Have her bring her swim suit. It’s probably one of those nature documentaries, they had us watch them, too. I’ll show her part of the reef later,” the girl informed him.

He didn’t particularly protest.


	13. Chapter 13

McGarrett didn’t show up at the club every night, but he still did often enough that Danny couldn’t forget about him even for a moment. The alpha had to be catching up on office work, but he always found a few minutes to come down and screw with them. Lori found it charming, but Danny got heart palpitations every time the man sneaked up on them unnoticed. His instincts warned him of danger. That’s the way they’d been trained in the Police, and McGarrett must have been through similar training, so he had to have been perfectly aware of what he was doing to Danny. And Danny didn’t sense an ounce of positive energy in it. The alpha seemed satisfied just by the fact that he startled him every once in a while. And it amused him even more every time Danny dropped another glass or tumbler, yelling at the top of his lungs, when Steve asked him for ‘another Frank’ with that much too wide smile on his face, the one Danny always wanted to wipe off of it.

Grace asked about McGarrett from time to time, which he couldn’t figure out, since his daughter had taken care that first day to show the man his place. Steve, when asked about their secret conversation, hid behind ‘alpha business,’ which only irritated Danny more, because his baby had caught onto that phrase and spread it throughout her school - about which one of the teachers had informed him during a parent-teacher meeting, while looking meaningfully at Rachel, because of course all three of them had to show up, showing everybody else just how dysfunctional their situation was.

Alpha, beta, and omega. They didn’t need to add any commentary about what had happened to their marriage. And it wasn’t anybody’s damned business, but he had felt the eyes of the other parents on his back when they had parted at the door of the school, and Rachel and Stan got into their Lexus, leaving him by himself on the sidewalk. But Hawaii was much better for taking walks than New Jersey. And he had the impression that the crime rate was exceptionally low. Or maybe it was just that his neighborhood wasn’t as terrible as he’d thought. In full daylight everything had looked much better.

“Have you thought about painting the rest of the apartment?” asked Lori, as soon as they had a free moment.

Victoria was talking about something with Max, and Danny didn’t like the expression on the boy’s face at all. He was struggling against himself, but his body almost screamed that he wanted to be far away from that woman. In some ways Victoria was even worse than the alphas he’d met here. But he had to give it to her, when it started to get crowded around the bar, she always managed to react appropriately. They consumed an aversion to strong-willed omegas with mother’s milk. That wasn’t anything new. But he was starting to warm up to the woman, ever since he realized they were both single parents just doing what they had to to survive. Maybe if he himself would have had a chance to ‘sleep’ his way to a normal day shift, maybe he would decide to do it. Just a few months earlier the thought wouldn’t have crossed his mind, but he had the impression that New Jersey had happened in some sort of alternate reality. He hadn’t needed to spend every minute thinking about how to spend his money in a way that would push anything forward. Kono was lending them her television - her whole first floor, really - when Grace had to watch more movies she’d brought back from school. But it couldn’t stay that way forever, and he was already contemplating his first major purchase, after his next paycheck.

As long as something unexpected didn’t come up, which he’d been afraid of from the very beginning. Grace’s class was planning a field trip, and even with discounts it would be a blow to his budget. Rachel took care of the kid’s school matters for now, but she could back out at any moment. He didn’t trust her enough not to worry. After all, his finances was the only area of his life through which she could still control him.

“In a while,” he said noncommittally.

“Chin has a plan,” replied Lori.

“And the two of you already picked out the colors, I know,” he snorted. “You really want to paint so much?”

“It was nice. We could meet up more often after work. Or, you know… during our off days,” said the omega, smiling widely at him.

Danny couldn’t not roll his eyes. He knew this game very well. When he’d been a teenager, his cousin had birthed his first child. He’d never considered himself to be someone who possessed maternal instincts - or paternal, in this case - but he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of the newborn. Josh hadn’t been able to get rid of him for weeks and everyone had joked that his genes were finally making themselves known. Maybe he would have even been angry, if not for the fact that the child calmed him and called to him simultaneously. This wore off a long while later, but when Grace showed up in the world, omegas would stop in the street to exchange at least a few words with him.

Kono, if she could have, wouldn’t have let the kid out of her house.

“Kid-crazy,” he snorted.

Lori reddened furiously.

“It’s not like that,” she protested weakly. “I just want us to be friends.”

“What’s kid-crazy?” asked McGarrett, sneaking up on them as usual.

Danny managed to catch the glass that slipped out of his hands this time, but sticky liquid spilled all over the floor. Irritated, he looked at the man, who observed them without hiding his interest. And he was apparently waiting for an answer.

“It’s not a technical term. Danny’s just saying that,” Lori snorted, apparently embarrassed.

“It’s omega business,” he replied spitefully, making no effort to hide what he was getting at.

The alpha smiled at him slightly.

“Do you really want me to betray your daughter’s confidence that much?” McGarrett asked rhetorically.

“No, we both know that’s not my point, Steven,” he scoffed.

The man’s smile only widened, as if hearing his own name from Danny’s lips really gave him joy. Up to this point Danny had only met people who exerted power over others by forcing them into using formal titles. McGarrett’s world must have been topsy-turvy, but that wasn’t surprising, since the alpha was a little abnormal. Steve proved it a few times a week, never reacting according to expectations. Danny wasn’t even sure how the hell they’d gotten to the point where they now both insulted each other. Kono considered it charming. But it was enough for him that McGarrett didn’t fire him for reasons of a too sharp tongue.

“Okay, let’s say I’ll tell you what generally happened then,” said Steve nonchalantly, even though he must have known that it kept Danny up at night.

Grace had changed her behavior so dramatically during that weekend that he’d gotten completely lost. And he was infuriated that McGarrett knew what was happening with Danny’s own child much better than he did. He was the one who had given birth to Grace. It hurt on so many levels, that it was hard for him to come to terms with. Maybe McGarrett’s only advantage was his status, but it was still so wrong. Danny should have known his own child and just _known_.

Lori didn’t hide her interest. He looked at her pointedly, and the omega backed away with a sigh.

“Alpha business,” said Danny. “Tell me.”

Steve shrugged his shoulders.

“Nothing complicated,” said McGarrett, but he stopped smiling stupidly.

Danny also wasn’t entirely sure why the man crowded up closer to him. Ever since he’d lost the ability to hide himself behind layers of clothing at work, he’d kept himself at a certain distance from alphas. And it worked perfectly, because the bar made it impossible for them to get into his personal space. But McGarrett didn’t give a shit about social niceties or cultural constraints. Or maybe he just knew that Danny wouldn’t have the same kind of problems as Max.

“She’s an alpha, she defends her territory, but she found herself within mine,” Steve informed him, “and her only territory currently is you. Only you are entirely hers. And you willingly came into my space. She figured it would be better and safer to take you away from me. Exactly that. She couldn’t oppose me, because she instinctively knows she isn’t competition for me. Not through force,” explained Steve. “I bet your ex-alpha’s beta is someone important. He probably owns his own company, or something like that. Grace assumes up front that money is bad. She associates it with one person and his motives, which I don’t think suit her all that well.”

Danny swallowed heavily. He really wanted to be angry, but his ire had evaporated some time ago. Now he was simply tired.

“How do you know he’s a beta?” was all he asked, because he had no idea how McGarrett had managed to hit the nail on the head.

Maybe Danny had unwittingly been walking around the whole time with ‘traded in for a beta’ written on his forehead. That would have been humiliating.

“If it’d been an alpha, you wouldn’t have gotten parental rights,” McGarrett replied calmly. “And hardly anyone aims at an omega twice. They must have met during some business event,” he added.

Danny suddenly wanted to hit the alpha in his calm face just for talking about the disintegration of his marriage in such an offhand manner. His wasn’t the first such situation, no doubt, especially since McGarrett had figured him out so easily, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. And everyone around him had always shown some sort of emotion when he talked to them about Rachel and Grace. McGarrett was completely indifferent, as if it didn’t matter at all. As if it wasn’t slowly destroying Danny’s life.

It wasn’t hard for him to remember why he hated alphas. In their world everything seemed simple. And of course, he was completely aware that normally alphas looked for betas to somehow replace their omegas. That didn’t make it any easier to accept. He and Rachel were supposed to have been together forever, with Grace as the cement binding their union. Now she was just a point of contention, and she always would be.

“She probably doesn’t give him an inch,” continued Steve. “After all, he’s only a beta. He has money, but he’s only a beta, and your daughter is an alpha. She won’t let him take your place, because she doesn’t want that. And his money doesn’t matter. Not even dolphins convinced her to like me, right?” asked McGarrett, and it almost sounded like he was trying to cheer Danny up.

“She liked the dolphins. Later,” admitted Danny, because if they were having a moment of sincerity, he could afford to spare something.

“She’s not going to like him because of his money. He’s not her father and he never will be. And you’re everything Grace has, so why should she give you up without a fight?” McGarrett asked rhetorically.

Danny sighed, rubbing his face, because he had no idea what to even do with this.

“A fight over territory,” he scoffed.

“Not a fight,” replied Steve. “I wasn’t fighting over territory. She made it known up front that you’re hers,” joked McGarrett. “And I guarantee you that -”

“That’s not what I meant,” Danny interrupted him mid-word, feeling his cheeks start to flush.

“No, for her it was really something like that,” stated Steve. “I wouldn’t fight with your daughter.”

“That’s fantastic, because she’s eight years old, and you’re a grown ex-SEAL,” he snorted, unable to stop himself.

McGarrett smiled slightly.

“That, too. Besides, you can never win with a child,” said Steve, and it sounded reasonable.

Stan and Rachel had tried to buy her. And maybe they’d even been fighting over the last week, because Grace hadn’t wanted to tell him about the valley on Maui.

“So that’s your alpha business,” he mocked, but somehow he couldn’t put his heart into it.

“You think that’s everything?” scoffed Steve. “I just explained to you what was up. At least you’ll know why she throws herself at the throat of every alpha she comes across.”

“How do you know? Did she tell you?” he asked, surprised.

“Was someone bothering you?” asked Steve almost immediately, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

Danny rolled his eyes and looked meaningfully at the room full of people. He tried to fold his arms over his chest, but he still felt naked. Over the last twenty years he hadn’t shown people his nipples. In New Jersey everyone left the house fully clothed and buttoned up to the top. He wasn’t fucking Snooki.

Steve let out a long sigh, apparently realizing that his question had been moronic.

“She didn’t tell me. I just know. Alpha business. Nobody’s going to understand each other like two alphas. And she needs a little bigger territory,” said Steve. “That’s why I told her that my territory is her territory,” he added, watching Danny carefully.

“You told my daughter _what_?” he asked disbelievingly.

Steve bit down on the inside of his cheek.

“How do I explain it to you…” began McGarrett.

“It better be concisely,” growled Danny.

“She wouldn’t have let you out to go to work,” Steve finally informed him. “She wouldn’t have let you go to work, since she would have known that her territory in the form of your person was going to be within my territory, without her protection. So now it’s also her territory,” said the man, in a tone of voice that implied this was all completely logical.

“So you guys traded me?” he asked disbelievingly.

“No,” replied Steve, and he laughed. “Christ, no,” he repeated, and little wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes as he started to laugh.

Danny felt a little like an idiot.

“Although, you know, if she’s willing to trade you for a hotel with some dolphins, we could talk,” said Steve.

“Shut up,” he barked, because McGarrett was a little too amused for his taste.

“You have no idea about alpha business,” mocked Steve. “We don’t trade people.”

“Of course, because last time went so well,” he replied, and he pressed his lips into a hard line, because the smile immediately evaporated off of McGarrett’s face.

He had no idea why he was even discussing the issue of Grace with Steve, but he was the only alpha Danny had ready access to. Rachel didn’t want to share information with him, even though they should start talking with each other for the good of the kid. Grace hadn’t become withdrawn, but she was becoming independent to the point that she woke up before him to greet him with coffee. He didn’t want her to think it was her responsibility. Getting her dad up on his feet shouldn’t be the job of little girls who dreamed of being little mermaids.

“Danny,” started Steve, and Danny straightened up a little, because the alpha rarely used his name.

It still irritated him that he stole ‘Danno’ from Grace. Fortunately no one else in the club seemed brave enough to call him that.

“Omega business,” he said, wanting to end this conversation as soon as possible. “Kid-craziness reveals itself when an omega appears with a child, and everyone else starts to hover around that child. And these thoughts start to appear, and, you know, suddenly everyone wants their own kid.”

McGarrett’s eyes widened as he looked at Lori, and then Kono. If he thought every employee in his club was suddenly going to go off to try to get themselves pregnant, he was damned mistaken, but Danny let him entertain that catastrophic vision for a few minutes, for his own satisfaction.

“You guys can’t -” McGarrett started, then broke off.

“I’m not saying everyone is suddenly going to be going around with rounded bellies. I’m just saying everyone’s going to be hanging out at my house, and Grace will have an excess of aunts and uncles,” he replied, and rolled his eyes. “You think we’re all controlled by a need to procreate, since unlike you we’re capable of it.”

“Max said something weird recently. I didn’t know it was because of you,” McGarrett informed him.

“Max talked to you about having kids?” he asked with disbelief.

“About maternity leave,” said Steve.

Danny looked in the direction of the young omega, who had started to collect empty glasses from the tables. Victoria watched his movements, but she was at a safe distance from the boy.

“Probably theoretically,” he said.

Steve didn’t even seem surprised, which roused Danny’s suspicions.

“Is there no maternity leave here?” he asked directly.

“What? Of course there is. The labor laws -” Steve started, then broke off. “Oh, you think I talked Max into something? I just asked him if he was planning to have a child. Or if he’d like to. The kid is nineteen years old. He’d be working behind the bar if it was legal,” scoffed McGarrett. “What’s he gonna do with a child?”

Danny shrugged. He hadn’t expected that Max would take the idea even this far. If he was already asking about leave, maybe that alpha of his wasn’t quite that big of an asshole. Or else he’d turned out to be a real jerk when Max refused to get pregnant right away. It happened more often than not.

“So…” begun Steve, “this issue about territory is purely symbolic. The instincts don’t calm down until the end of puberty. They just activated too early in her case, so she’s doing everything she can to try to deal with them. You should cut her some slack, not everything has to be perfect. She’s lost in unfamiliar territory, constantly surprised.”

Danny sighed, and tried to relax, but he didn’t manage it very well.


	14. Chapter 14

Alpha business continued, since Grace growled at everyone who came too close to him. The father of one of her friends had gotten divorced the previous year, and apparently he had figured it would be a great idea to introduce himself in front of the school. Grace had stared him down until he had removed himself from her sight. Danny was only partially grateful for that. In a way it even amused him, since until not too long ago he’d thought he’d have to deal with assholes all by himself.

The kid had gone off to school much earlier. Rachel had had some sort of meeting early that morning, so at least he had been spared an encounter with his ex that day. He had no idea how long the situation would last. Rachel didn’t try too hard to be malicious, but she took every opportunity to rub his face in how well her life was going. He’d never been obsessed with money, which might have been the thing that had irritated her the most about their marriage. He’d made enough that they had felt safe. He didn’t need luxuries, and Grace must have felt the same, because they had quickly fallen into a wonderful routine in their tiny apartment.

It almost tasted like happiness.

Kono was waiting for him by the door, unexpectedly. And the expression on her face didn’t bode anything good.

“Heya, Danny,” she greeted.

“Let me guess, you were in the neighborhood?” he joked.

It was their day off, but he hadn’t planned on painting. He wanted to rest a little before he took up the next home improvement project. Besides which, he was aiming more at buying some shelves, because the opened boxes by the walls were starting to irritate him. The color of his living room walls was not a problem when compared to the lack of drawers and hangers.

“You know me,” snorted Kono. “Chin and I are going swimming, and I’m not forcing you, but you could finally come see Kamekona’s truck.”

The guy had been inviting him over almost from the very beginning. Danny’d wanted to look in on him, but his time was strictly regimented around Grace, work, and sleep. In exactly that order.

“You could have called,” he said.

“So you could blow me off? You know Chin is waiting around the corner, just in case we have to use force?” she said, and he wasn’t even sure she was joking.

“Kidnapping is illegal,” he reminded her like an idiot, and she started to laugh.

“Don’t make me beg,” she moaned.

“I don’t even like the beach,” he reminded her.

“You can stay on the grass, or with Kamekona by the truck. He makes really great shrimps. And he gives great discounts to his friends,” she added.

He scoffed disbelievingly.

“Kame? We’re gonna be paying double,” he joked, because the beta was capable of anything, and he was maybe even more cheap than Danny himself, which was saying something.

Danny had never liked to shell out money carelessly, and now that he didn’t have all that much of it, he could even justify it. Rachel thought they needed to take Grace shopping together, since their wardrobes weren’t filled up all the way. The kid was growing like a weed, and he was starting to worry she would end up taller than him. Rachel had never let him forget those few centimeters that separated the two of them.

Kono looked at him with those big, brown eyes of hers, as if she was trying to impersonate one of the faces Grace made to convince him to let her have her way.

“No dates with any omegas, young lady, and you’re to be under covers before your bedtime,” he said, and Kalakaua grinned like an idiot. “You’re going to be washing the sand out of my hair,” he warned her.

“That’s a little perverted, but what’s it to me?” snorted Kono.

***

The beach wasn’t filled with tourists. Apparently the locals had their own secret places they didn’t share with newcomers. The waves were alarmingly big, even from as far back as he was watching them. Kamekona’s truck was parked in a small plaza, wafting enticing, exotic smells. Kono had introduced him to her family almost immediately, so he hadn’t been expecting to meet any more members of the Kalakaua-Kelly clan. He was under the impression that half of Oahu was part of that family, and he couldn’t not wonder how close they were to being a mafia.

“Williams, you said?” asked the alpha, sitting down next to him.

“Exactly,” he replied, watching the man’s creased face.

“Sergeant Hanamoa,” the guy introduced himself. “Meka to my friends. They talked about your transfer from the continent.”

Danny felt his whole body tense up.

“You’re Kono’s cousin?” he asked directly, not knowing what the man was playing at.

“My wife is Chin’s cousin,” the alpha explained. “Chin used to be a cop, too. I don’t know if he told you.”

Danny shook his head in the negative.

“I’m not surprised. The whole thing is still a sore spot. I just wanted to say it’s a shame they didn’t take you on. I heard about your statistics,” Meka continued. “You did good work in New Jersey. I hate it when good cops sit at home. The law isn’t always perfect.”

“The law isn’t always perfect,” he agreed, and raised up his beer bottle.

He didn’t really know what to add. The guy didn’t know him, but apparently felt the need to voice his dissatisfaction, which put him in the group of people who could recognize good police work when they saw it. And to whom status didn’t mean anything. Besides, Meka’s wife was an omega, so he had to know that they were more than great ornaments to hang off of somebody’s arm.

“Thanks,” he said, because it meant a hell of a lot.

Meka tipped his head as they knocked the glass necks of their beer bottles together.

***

He had no idea why Kono loved that sport. She ended up in the water at least four times right in front of his eyes. It alarmed him every time she climbed back up on her board, despite the fact the thing must have been slick with water. The ocean suddenly seemed like a very dangerous place. He was starting to be grateful he hadn’t yet managed to buy a surfboard for Grace. Maybe there was a chance he could use alpha business against her. It wouldn’t be playing fair, but he’d stoop down to manipulation if it would save the life of his child - he’d stoop down much farther, if it were necessary.

Kono must have hated him, since she’d been trying to convince him not too long ago that it was a perfectly safe sport. The bruise on her thigh said something else.

He watched her with a certain fascination, because she acted completely differently surrounded by family and friends than she did at the club, which shouldn’t have surprised him. People always relaxed around those close to them. Danny himself probably even more so than other people, since he still felt embarrassed every time he pulled off his shirt and ended up in just those shorts for a few hours of work. He wasn’t used to the looks the alphas threw at him. The last time he’d been purely a sex object had been back in college, but he’d been a few pounds lighter, his chest hadn’t looked like a cat had rolled around on it, and he hadn’t had a fading bite mark.

He felt used, and that probably wore at him the most. The youth and joy that radiated off of Kono just showed him what he had behind him. He didn’t want to end up a lonely omega, with a daughter who would someday find her own other half. He didn’t like to think about it like he didn’t like to think about Rachel’s betrayal, but he would end up alone. It was just hard for him to come to terms with it.

Kono started off back towards the ocean, because apparently she hadn’t had enough battle, but then she froze as a tall man walked up to her. Danny could feel out an alpha at a mile away, and he instinctively rose up off of his seat. Chin was busy talking to Kamekona inside the truck, and Danny had a bad feeling. Kono looked tense, but he couldn’t understand what he was looking at. The alpha was holding up his hands as if in helplessness, which wasn’t a picture you saw often. It surprised him even more when Kono pushed the guy away, and then everything went back to normal, because the guy headed towards her radiating irritation and anger.

Danny didn’t run up to them, but he did speed up his steps, because the omega seemed to be shouting something, apparently furious.

“Everything alright?” he asked, stepping between them.

“Danny,” she sighed, as if she’d expected nothing else.

He was relieved to notice that Chin and Kamekona were watching them curiously.

The alpha looked him over with an unpleasant expression on his face, but he stayed in his spot a few paces away.

“Adam Noshimuri,” the guy introduced himself, even holding out a hand in his direction. “You’re new. I don’t know you.”

Danny glanced down at his hand and didn’t take it. The last time he’d let himself fall for something like that, he’d ended up face down on the ground, much to the amusement of those assholes from the precinct. He knew how to fight, but that didn’t mean he liked to resort to force at every occasion. Writing reports about those kinds of incidents wasn’t pleasant. And now he didn’t have the protection of a badge. And he had the impression that he’d seen Adam at the bar before.

“You’re following Kono around,” he stated, furrowing his brows.

Kono laughed behind his back.

“Danny, nothing’s happening, really,” she said. “We got in an argument.”

“Christ, is this another one of your boyfriends?” he asked disbelievingly.

Adam looked at her furiously.

“Did somebody attack you?” the alpha growled, and he truly seemed upset.

“Yes. Steve touched me, and Danny almost tore his arm off, so in your shoes I wouldn’t play around with our guard-omega,” she scoffed. “Nobody touches me that I don’t want.”

“I told you working there was dangerous,” started Adam. “I told you that -”

“I’m not quitting my job,” snarled Kono.

“You could find another job,” said Adam.

Kono laughed harshly.

“Where?” she asked frankly. “Where do they take omegas? At a strip club?” she growled.

Danny completely supported her anger. But the alpha’s face darkened, as if he’d been hit in the face.

“Kono, you could marry me, and then -” began Adam.

Kono rolled her eyes.

“And then all doors will be open to me,” she hissed. “I’ve heard it before.”

Danny froze.

“Hey, you guys don’t have that tradition here, where the family sells an omega to some alpha?” he asked, alarmed, because Kono had mentioned that her clan had split up some time ago.

He knew her mother and father, but the cousins she associated with were primarily from Chin’s side of the family. He wasn’t sure what was up, but even if this Noshimuri wasn’t immediately throwing himself at anybody’s throat, it didn’t necessarily mean anything good. Maybe he was trying to win Kono over, which was hilarious, because Kalakaua was the most independent person he knew.

Adam looked at him in pure shock.

“No, that tradition died out,” Kono replied calmly.

“That’s a relief,” he said.

“I proposed to her normally,” Adam added quickly.

Danny almost felt for him.

“And she said no, and yet you’re still here,” he observed calmly.

The alpha opened his mouth, then closed it quickly, and looked at Kono with a weird kind of desperation. Danny widened his stance, getting ready for anything, but Noshimuri only tipped his head, and if he’d suddenly realized where the problem lay.

“I apologize,” the man said, quite sincerely, and then he turned on his heel and simply walked off.

Danny wasn’t altogether sure how he felt about that. Noshimuri was probably something like ten years younger than him, but he wasn’t a kid. But alphas tended toward one-track minds and an inability to recognize reality. Stating facts sometimes helped them get a hold of themselves, but Danny didn’t particularly like doing it. Kicking the asses of assholes was much more pleasant than watching love-sick puppies retreat to lick their wounds.

He looked at Kono, who was watching Adam walk away, and sighed.

“Let’s not talk about this,” she said quietly.

***

McGarrett didn’t show up at the club, and Danny suspected it would become habit, since they finally had a manager. Victoria was starting to make herself at home, and she’d already introduced her own rules, which mostly concerned duties at the sink. Apparently every time they sent Max back there, they were making a grave mistake, though Danny couldn’t see how, exactly. Charlie hated messing around with suds up to his elbows, so he’d happily traded away his turns at washing the glassware. Nobody had had a problem with it. Even Kamekona helped sometimes.

They stood in a small semi-circle, watching Victoria, who wore a very flattering navy dress. According to Kono, she used to manage one of the hotels, but he hadn’t asked for details or from where Kalakaua got that information. Part of her clan probably worked for McGarrett. Maybe the business had even been inherited. You didn’t come by this kind of fortune by yourself - at least that’s what the voice of experience told him.

“We need to clear a few things up,” began Victoria, in a tone of voice that wasn’t any more to his taste now than it had been the first time she’d used it. “You didn’t have anybody to lead you this whole time, but Steve has entrusted that task to me, and I intend to make this club into one of the best on the island,” she continued, looking from face to face.

She said McGarrett’s name in a tone that implied the intimacy between them was about more than a one-off tumble in the back of a car. Danny didn’t believe her for a minute. Alphas were fairly easy to figure out when it came to sex. And McGarrett had looked relaxed while accompanying Victoria into the club only once.

If they did do it, it was after work, and with Victoria’s kid and their crazy working hours, he didn’t figure she’d have a lot of time to work with. It was physically impossible.

“We need to change a few things, because most of you don’t seem to realize you’re at work,” said the beta. “First of all, when you’re working, you don’t take care of personal business. You don’t answer your cell phones whenever you like, and you don’t leave early, because it’ll be reflected in your pay. You chose to work here, so I don’t want to hear any of you have an issue serving drinks because of your own personal problems,” she added, looking meaningfully at Max, who reddened all the way up to the tips of his ears.

Danny wouldn’t have called someone else’s virginity a ‘personal problem,’ but apparently it was open to interpretation.

“We don’t study in the back room, we don’t hit on the customers, and we don’t talk back to them,” added Victoria.

This time she looked straight at Danny.

He didn’t even twitch an eyelid.

“Understood?” she asked curtly.

And apparently it wasn’t rhetorical, because a long silence fell after her words. She was waiting for some sort of response from them, and he could feel how tense Kono was beside him.

“Understood,” he answered for all of them.

***

Lori seemed unusually anxious. Victoria stood a few yards away from her, so they maintained a relative silence. Nobody seemed to feel like carrying a conversation, even though they weren’t busy every minute, because college students were starting to order jugs of beer and serving themselves at their tables. Most of them couldn’t even afford alcohol, so they simply danced in the center of the room. Kono and Max tried to gather up the glassware, but because Thursdays sucked, the floor was covered in a layer of broken glass. Charlie ran around with a broom a few times, making space for herself with her elbows. The kids weren’t concerned that they might cut their feet on the shards. Alcohol had a terrible effect on their brains.

He thought he glimpsed Adam, but he could have been mistaken. Kono was completely calm, anyway, though he was under the impression that something had changed with her. Chin mentioned that Noshimuri had stopped calling her. Danny had expected that the girl would relax, but her eyes betrayed a mix of unpleasant emotions. If he hadn’t known her better, he’d think that someone had stolen her surfboard. But he knew that she’d catch whoever would dare to touch her equipment and break their fingers.

He opened his mouth to ask Lori if she’d like to join them at the beach next time. Her niece and Grace knew each other from school. A trip to the beach together might have been nice, but he didn’t say a word, because Victoria looked at him sharply.

He raised his hands up defensively and busied himself polishing the glassware.

It looked like it was going to be a really long night.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two and a half months is a perfectly reasonable time-frame between updates, right? Can I claim translator's block? Is that a thing? 
> 
> Anyway, updates should be more frequent now. Maybe. ;p

Steve looked in on the bar fairly often, though he didn’t stay until the early hours of the morning like before, letting Victoria take care of the business in its entirety. Danny wasn't sure when the alpha slept, because Kono saw McGarrett surfing almost every day. No doubt every one of his hotels also had its own manager. It would be crazy to think otherwise.

“Boss at ten o’clock,” said Lori, because Steve always meant dropped glassware, and Victoria intended to deduct every glass from their paychecks, even though that was insanity.

The customers broke the most of them, but the profit margins of clubs like this were wide enough that this type of minor damage was almost meaningless. But the woman was evidently trying to establish her own management style, and getting in her way now, when she was just getting started, would have been pure idiocy. He hoped that after a while she’d get to know the place better, and she’d sit down with Kono and the others to talk over all the issues that were troubling them. Like the fact that Max had managed perfectly fine on the less crowded nights, and pushing him out to get eaten alive by college students was completely unreasonable - generally speaking.

“Hey, Danno,” said Steve, getting into his personal space.

But Danny had managed to get used to it by now. McGarrett simply liked to walk all over people’s personal space. And the fact that he touched Kono often was more a form of brotherly interest than anything sexual. Max seemed to cling to Steve for similar reasons, and Danny couldn't help but wonder if the alpha was aware of the fact his workers saw him as a substitute father. Omega instincts, once triggered, rarely changed.

“Hey, asshole,” he replied, because he was mid-order, and Steve had stolen the drink he’d just made. “That wasn’t for you,” he grumbled.

“No, I’m convinced you read my mind,” replied Steve, completely unconcerned.

Lori snorted, rolling her eyes as she handed him another glass.

“And I told you not to call me that,” said Danny, though it was maybe a fraction of a second too late, because Steve smiled widely at him, as if he didn’t believe his weak protest at all.

The fact was, Danny had managed to get used to the way McGarrett addressed him. He just preferred not to admit it. It seemed like it would be giving up in a way, as if he’d be letting the alpha permeate another area of his life. His time with his daughter remained sacred and untouched. Even Rachel didn’t have access to their relationship, which said a lot about them. Maybe he should have noticed it a long time ago.

He shivered as Steve brushed by him to make his way further behind the bar. He’d feel a lot better if he was wearing a shirt, even if it meant that his body would be dripping sweat the entire night. The looks he got from the customers weren’t pleasant, but he was starting to get used to them, even if he maybe shouldn’t have been. But they didn’t matter, and they changed every night. He rarely saw familiar faces, and those people were primarily Steve’s guests. They sat in the VIP section and drank much too expensive liquor. Those alphas rarely came up to the bar. Kono had more to do with them, and he was impressed by her professionalism whenever Adam Noshimuri showed up. The girl always tensed up, as if she was expecting something unpleasant from him, so Danny watched her more carefully on those evenings. Adam, however, behaved himself immaculately, which worried him even more, because he was starting to like the guy.

And he shouldn’t.

“Steve, did you need anything?” asked Victoria, almost giving him a heart attack.

Danny had no idea why they all needed to sneak around like that.

Steve smiled crookedly, pulling the glass out of his hand.

“I thought you only jumped up like that because of me,” the alpha snorted. “I’m gonna be jealous now,” he added, smiling at him crookedly.

The word ‘asshole’ sat on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t say anything, because Victoria was looking at them with furrowed brows. He wouldn’t have called it flirting, but antagonizing the boss probably wouldn’t make him any friends, so he held his tongue.

“Thanks, but sometimes I just like to come down and see how everyone’s doing,” said Steve. “I’ll stay here for a while, so don’t worry about the bar.”

Victoria looked at them as if this part of the club was really starting to be a problem for her. And Danny understood her perfectly. If she thought McGarrett’s interest in her gave her any kind of security, she had to fight for the alpha’s attention. The arena of dating hadn’t changed much since the Middle Ages. Now he just worried less that he’d get literally stabbed in the back.

But the woman only tipped her head as she headed to the VIP section, where she herself was primarily responsible for the guests. Her hips moved in that sensual way that was only ever the result of wearing tall stilettos.

Danny wasn’t even sure why he watched her leave, but it was a mistake, because McGarrett always took advantage of his distraction. He felt fingers combing through his hair, which he really could not even believe. When he turned towards Steve, the alpha smiled widely and joyously.

“You did not just do that,” he snarled, which was hilarious, because he was perfectly aware that McGarrett had just touched his hair.

Steve just smiled even wider in answer.

“You did not just do that, you did not just touch my hair,” he repeated stubbornly, apparently activating his denial syndrome.

He’d have been more likely to expect hands on his ass, or squeezing the back of his neck. He didn’t doubt McGarrett knew how to subdue an omega without using force. There existed certain spots on their bodies that caused instinctive reactions, which is why Danny always made sure to react faster than whoever was trying to get at them.

“I wanted to know what it feels like,” replied Steve, as if it was perfectly normal to comb your fingers through someone else’s hair.

“The hair is sacred,” Danny informed him, completely serious, ignoring the fact that Lori was trying to not all that subtly wipe tears of laughter out of her eyes. “You’re not going to touch my hair, Steven,” he barked.

McGarrett only smiled wider.

***

It wasn’t even twenty-four hours later before the alpha did it again, but this time was just at the end of their shifts, and Danny was ready. As soon as he glimpsed the hand heading for the top of his head, he grabbed McGarrett by the wrist and painfully blocked his joint. Steve didn’t let out the smallest sound as he turned around on his own axis and they ended up face to face, which wasn’t what Danny had been planning on. McGarrett’s shirt was half-opened as always, so he could see part of his chest, tanned and broad.

He also didn’t expect the alpha to duck down under his arm, twisting Danny’s limb this time. He almost expected to end up meeting another wall, but Steve embraced his instead, immobilizing his whole torso. Danny fit perfectly under his chin, which the alpha placed on the top of his head, and then he ruined something it had taken Danny a good few minutes to arrange back at home.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” he snorted, unable to help himself.

Kono laughed like crazy as he tried to kick himself free, because Steve was holding him securely and a little too tightly. He could feel his hair bend, peeling off of where it lay against his scalp. And he knew in a few minutes he would look terrible, which was apparently Steve’s goal, because the guy ruined everything.

“Kono! Help me!” he yelled, but the omega only sat down on one of the tables, choking with laughter.

“No, thanks, _brah_ , I like my hairstyle today,” said the girl.

“Omega solidarity!” he reminded her, and finally looked down at McGarrett’s arm, which was holding him immobile.

It was moronic, but apparently the alpha was having a great time.

“Let me go, Steven,” he snarled.

“No,” replied the alpha, and then Danny felt the needle-like points of his stubble rubbing against his scalp.

“I’m warning you,” he said, but Steve only snorted into his hair.

Danny took a deep breath, and then he bit the alpha on the arm as hard as he could. He didn’t know if the man let him go out of pain or surprise, but he managed to free himself from his hold. Kono fell off of the table, which probably said a lot about the maturity of their behavior, but it was four in the morning, and he wanted to go home. He tried to fix his hair somehow, but it was sticking up in all directions. The only satisfaction he had was the completely shocked look on McGarrett’s face.

“You bit me,” the man said.

“I hope I don’t get rabies,” he replied. “Don’t touch my hair.”

Steve was still looking at him in wonder, and then he glanced down at his wrist, as if he still couldn’t believe it.

“But you bit me,” McGarrett repeated.

“And what was I supposed to do when you immobilized me?” asked Danny, completely serious, and the atmosphere changed completely. “You’re an ex-SEAL, and you’re the one who said I don’t stand a chance against you, so put yourself in my shoes for a second,” he added.

“I wouldn’t ever hurt you,” said Steve hastily, and he even sounded completely sincere.

“I don’t know. I don’t know _you_. You follow me around and I don’t know why,” he said, irritated. “When I tell you to lay off you escalate. What’s that supposed to tell me about you?” he asked frankly.

Steve paled slightly, or at least that’s the impression Danny got, because you couldn’t be sure of anything in this light. At least Kono had stopped laughing.

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” Steve repeated, this time much more quietly. “I wouldn’t joke around with you if I didn’t consider us equals,” he said, surprising Danny a little.

He definitely hadn’t been expecting those words, and he wasn’t sure how he should take them. He didn’t see that equality, and he definitely didn’t feel it. Differences in status, orientation, and even damned height were things he had long since gotten used to. And he could deal with them. He wasn’t altogether sure what equality Steve was talking about.

“Danny,” started Kono.

He looked at her, irritated.

She, at least, should have known what he was getting at.

***

Kono was waiting for him by his apartment the very next day, accompanied by Chin, who had a smirk on his face. They had beer with them, so they were no doubt intending to bribe him. They still hadn’t re-painted his bedroom, but they had all the time in the world for that. And he didn’t feel particularly positively towards physical labor right at the moment. Days off were for making up sleep, which wasn’t easy when he had to walk Grace to school every morning and then pick her up a few hours later. He normally managed to get in a few hours, but the fight with McGarrett had thrown him off balance.

He knew most of them were amused by the way Steve picked on him. But Danny had never liked being pushed around. He did everything he could to avoid it, if at all possible. But it seemed like every step of the way someone had a problem with his build, height, orientation, or even the hair on his chest. As if it wasn’t his own business whether he shaved or not. Ever since he’d shown up in Hawaii, everyone wanted to change something about him, and he hated it. Or maybe it had started a lot earlier than that, when he’d met Rachel. He’d tried to be more sophisticated. He’d taken her to expensive restaurants, and read a lot about wine, though he preferred beer.

He couldn’t really remember what he had been like before her. Maybe he really wasn’t himself.

“Hey, Danny,” Kono began uncertainly.

“Uh-uh,” he replied, looking back at her gloomily.

“We have beer,” she said.

“I’m in a terrible mood,” he admitted. “Beer will be useful."

***

It was easy to forgive Kono, because beer put everyone in a better mood. But he started to hate her almost immediately, because when they picked up Grace from school, the damned omega started mentioning the beach, and that meant they’d be spending his afternoon off out in the sun. They quickly returned back to the apartment, mostly just to change into something more comfortable, and Chin didn’t even protest acting as their driver the whole time.

Kamekona was delighted to see Grace, though he for one shouldn’t have been getting kid-craziness. Though Danny wasn’t an expert on betas, so he couldn’t be sure. Amy had brought her own children, so his little girl was sucked into playing games in the sand, leaving him alone with Kono and the beer.

“It’s the last one,” he warned Kalakaua.

“We’ll look after Grace,” promised Kono.

“I know, that’s what I’m afraid of,” he muttered.

“You can’t stay angry at me forever,” moaned Kono.

“I’m at the beach,” he said, waving his hand at all the sand around them.

He’d arranged himself on the blanket so that he wouldn’t be touching any of that nastiness, but he could still feel it between his toes. That wasn’t normal.

“At the beach, where there’s plenty of half-naked alphas,” said Kono. “Don’t be like that, Danny,” she moaned.

He raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction of a quite familiar silhouette. Adam apparently liked this part of the island, and he had to have known they were there, because he was so intent on not looking in their direction that it almost hurt.

“You’re engaged,” he reminded her sourly.

“Asshole,” she muttered.

“No, we’re even,” he replied.

“Steve was only playing around with you,” she said.

“Exactly, and I don’t like it when people play with me. I’m not a toy.”

Knon pressed her lips into a thin line.

“He wasn’t playing like that. He just…” She sighed. “Whatever. Can’t we just talk about all the butts we can see, and thus get vengence on a chauvinistic world?”

“Uh-uh, and who’s gonna protect us when they overhear us?” he snorted.

“Why do you think Chin and Kamekona aren’t drinking?” she asked.

Maybe Hawaiian omegas had some good ways to relax, after all.

***

He’d drank one beer too many, or else the sun was starting to get to him. Grace came back from the shore every once in a while with a bucket of cold water, and the first time she doused him with the contents, he’d wanted to roll her around in the sand in punishment, but it was actually a good way to cool down. He intended to put the blanket in the washing machine that evening, to get rid of the sand.

“How about that one?” he asked, pointing Kono in the direction of an alpha in sky-blue swim trunks.

Kalakaua choked on a piece of pineapple.

“Yeah, I completely agree,” he continued. “Come here, sweetheart,” he joked, because the alpha was emerging from the water like some sort of sea god.

Kono continued to cough.

“You really suck at this. You’re supposed to gossip about them with me,” he said, offended. 

“That’s Steve,” the omega finally managed to choke out.

“Steve? Do we know a Steve?” he asked, and then he froze, because his own daughter jumped up and ran over to the man, shouting something unintelligible. “Grace!” he yelled, getting up and heading towards her, and then he froze, because he ended up face to face with McGarrett.

Apparently they did know a Steve, but his mind was so wonderfully clouded by alcohol.

“Danny, hi,” said the alpha.

Grace wrinkled her forehead, immediately sensing the awkwardness between them.

“We’re visiting the beach,” he replied, because he knew they were a moment away from an uncomfortable silence.

“I swim around here,” said McGarrett, as if it wasn’t obvious.

Danny folded his arms across his chest.

Grace looked at Steve, then at him, and then back at the alpha. The wrinkles on her forehead only deepened.

“Alpha business,” she said suddenly, waving her finger at McGarrett.

“Grace,” Danny began, but she pouted out her lips, offended.

“We won’t go far, but we need to talk,” she informed him seriously. “Danno,” she moaned, as if she thought he was embarrassing her in front of a fully-grown alpha.

“We won’t go far,” Steve promised him.

Danny looked back at him unhappily.

“Alpha business,” Grace repeated stubbornly.

He sighed, because they were on a public beach, and he’d be able to see his daughter the whole time. He waved his hand, and returned to the blanket. He’d had his feet in the sand for too long.

Kono watched Grace with obvious fascination. His daughter seemed to be talking intently about something, or at least she still had that wrinkle on her forehead. Steve tried to explain something to her, but it didn’t seem to be going well for him. But Danny definitely hadn’t expected his daughter to kick him in the shin.

“Grace!” he yelled.

“I deserved it,” Steve yelled back, as if that was supposed to calm him down.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to [acheshirecatsmile](http://archiveofourown.org/users/acheshirecatsmile) for helping to polish the rough edges off of the translation of this chapter. :)

He hadn’t expected that Steve would stay at the beach for all that long, but apparently he was used to fraternizing with his employees. Grace watched him the entire time, unsatisfied, and Danny got the impression that they had come to some sort of agreement previously, one McGarrett hadn’t told him about. Apparently Steven was enough of an idiot that he’d violated one of the terms of that agreement. You couldn’t pull that kind of stuff with his daughter.

He started to sober up very quickly, motivated by the fact that McGarrett was watching him the entire time, as if he was trying to memorize the difference between his behavior under the influence of alcohol and the norm, which he encountered at work. Danny was aware that there really wasn’t much difference. He talked just as much, but maybe his cheeks had an unhealthy flush to them, and maybe his smile was a little wider than strictly necessary. He always had the tendency to make unpleasant faces when he tried to use his face muscles to modify the expression of happiness that slipped out from who-knows-where, who-knows-why. It definitely didn’t make him any more attractive. At least according to his mother.

Kamekona and Chin didn’t seem to have any problem with the fact that Steve had laid out his stuff closer to them. Kono was beaming, and if not for her earlier surprise at his presence, Danny would have suspected a conspiracy. But McGarrett didn’t begin with any apologies, or try to show he wasn’t an asshole. He simply sat on his towel and watched the waves.

Grace eventually started to get bored with keeping an eye on him, which didn’t surprise Danny at all. Kono’s cousins had been trying to get her to play in the sand with them, but she’d refused. The kids had moved closer to the ocean, where they had a steady supply of water. She’d stayed with him, tucked into his side, throwing around dissatisfied looks. Maybe he would have reacted to it earlier, if not for the miraculous effect the beer had had on him. He wasn’t even half as angry at Kono as he’d been at the start.

“Danno,” began Grace.

“Yes, monkey?” he asked, stretching out more comfortably on their blanket.

“Will you come make a sandcastle with me?” she asked.

He was certain that if he looked at her, she’d be looking at him with those huge eyes of hers. It was hard for him to deal with that look, but he’d had to find a way. Most often he just turned his head.

“No. There’s sand there. Sand is an abomination,” he reminded her. “But you can go build a castle by yourself,” he added. “I’ll watch you from here.”

When he glanced down at her, she was staring stubbornly at McGarrett’s back.

“Grace,” he said sharply. “Go play with the other kids. We’ll talk about kicking people when we get home,” he added.

She tensed involuntarily, and this time she gave him her whole attention. But she didn’t look as if she had any intention to apologize. Whatever it was she and McGarrett had been discussing, Danny had had enough of these secrets. His daughter was starting to slip out of control, and that could never be safe. She was a damned alpha, and soon he wouldn’t have much authority over her. The difference in height, age, and experience helped for now, but she would grow up soon, and Rachel definitely didn’t plan to support him when it came to raising Grace. His ex-alpha would sooner serve him another lawsuit. And it’d be better if their daughter didn’t have any suspicious comments on her record at school before then.

“Danno,” moaned Grace.

“Young lady,” he said quietly. “We don’t tolerate that kind of behavior,” he reminded her. “If you want to play today, go over to Kono’s cousins. If not, we’re going home right now,” he added firmly.

Kono must have heard them, because she glanced at him faux-casually as she opened another beer for herself. He didn’t doubt the rest of them were trying not to pay them any attention, but they were all in one semi-circle on the beach. He didn’t plan on punishing Grace here, but the two of them had another long talk ahead of them. He’d have liked to school both of the alphas responsible for his most recent headache, but he wasn’t McGarrett’s mother. Steve’s parents should shoulder the responsibility for their own mistakes.

Grace kissed him on the cheek softly, as she always did when she hoped it would soften him up a bit, and ran off towards where the other children were playing, spraying sand in every direction. Her skin was starting to develop a healthy bronze glow, no doubt due to their Italian genes making themselves known every other generation, because he himself felt as if he’d fried like a crab. He didn’t even want to bring Rachel’s British roots into it.

Steve glanced back at him, and then stretched out flat on his towel. At least one of them was aware they were in the dog house.

***

“You are the most stubborn omega I know,” said Kono, sitting down next to him once more.

Steve turned towards them, not even pretending he couldn’t hear them.

“You’re the drunkest omega on the beach,” he replied.

“You have no right to judge me,” she scoffed. “If I want to get wasted, I have the right to do so. My status doesn’t define me.”

“I’m not judging you,” he said. “I just thought we were stating the obvious.”

Kono rolled her eyes.

“You’re still damned stubborn, but that’s just as well,” the girl stated. “I don’t like this alpha business at all,” she admitted.

“Me neither,” he agreed.

Steve parted his lips, as if he intended to interject something, but changed his mind. But he pushed himself up and turned to face them, no longer even pretending he wasn’t listening.

“I have no idea how you’re raising her by yourself. She’s an _alpha_ ,” said Kono, with a specific emphasis on the last word.

“It’s a miracle I’ve managed,” he admitted.

“And Steve is messing it all up,” she added.

“Exactly,” he agreed.

McGarrett looked at Grace behind him and furrowed his brow.

“How?” the alpha asked curtly.

“How else? You’re messing with her head. She’s starting to get aggressive, even though there’s no reason for it,” explained Danny.

“She’s defending you. That’s good,” replied Steve.

“She’s eight-years-old. She’s a little girl that needs my protection,” he scoffed, mildly irritated. “Besides, I defend myself perfectly well.”

“Her instinct -” began Steve.

“Her instincts aren’t everything. Her status isn’t everything. She needs to start using her head. I know that’s not all that common among alphas, but she _is_ my daughter,” he muttered.

Steve pressed his lips into another spectacularly thin line.

“I was trying to balance her out,” the alpha said suddenly, surprising him a little.

“Balance her?” scoffed Danny.

Steve took a deep breath and let the air out through his lips in one long whoosh.

“I don’t intend to tell you how you should raise her, and I’m not criticizing,” began McGarrett hastily. “She just needs a role model. And right now she doesn’t trust her mother. If you’re going to be raising her your way, she’s going to behave like an omega. There’s nothing wrong with that, but do you know how much trouble it’s going to be later on? You’re an omega who decided to work for the police, so you learned to act like an alpha. Half the people you meet don’t know how to act towards you. Are they supposed to treat you like an equal?” asked Steve. “I tried, but it didn’t work out. I’m supposed to simultaneously remember that you’re an omega, and you have your limits, and also not treat you like a delicate omega flower,” he added, his tone mildly irritated. “I wouldn’t touch an omega the way I treat you,” he finally said frankly.

Danny opened his mouth, but really he had no idea what he was supposed to say to that.

“So you don’t see me as an omega?” he asked, because he didn’t know how to feel about that.

It was partially offensive. McGarrett, despite everything, was a handsome alpha more or less his own age. His interest would have flattered anyone, and Danny had been sure the man had been staring at him all the time because some aspect of his physiognomy had appealed to him. A misunderstanding that big made him uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to it.

“That’s not what I meant,” sighed Steve. “You don’t treat me the way omegas treat alphas. I thought you were expecting the same from me in return,” he admitted.

Danny opened his mouth once again and froze, because that actually made sense. He faked submission in a way, because it wasn’t in his nature, and McGarrett must have picked up on that. Half of it must have been due to his SEAL training. Danny hated army alphas. Steve was capable of analyzing his behavior on too many levels. They taught that at the police academy, too, so they’d be able to see through suspects regardless of status. They taught the basic behaviors of alphas, omegas, and betas, and that was the only reason Danny knew how easy it was to slip outside the stereotypes.

“Okay,” he admitted finally. “I could have not bitten you.”

“No,” scoffed Steve. “The biting doesn’t bother me. I just don’t know what to do when you suddenly back off, pretending to be an untouchable omega when you aren’t one,” he said frankly.

“Steven,” exclaimed Kono.

“He didn’t call me a slut,” Danny replied calmly. “He just meant maybe I shouldn’t jump down his throat all the time. And maybe just this once he has a point. Although I _did_ tell you not to touch my hair,” he reminded him.

“And why should I have listened to you?” Steve asked frankly.

Danny puffed out his lips, because that also made a certain kind of sense. Or at least it was the culmination of what they’d been building up to this whole time. Sincere conversations apparently really did help. He got the impression that he was seeing McGarrett in a whole new light. The asshole still remained an asshole, but at least the motives behind his behavior had become clear, and Danny himself wasn’t blameless. He challenged people - he’d been aware of it the whole time, but at the same time submitting to anyone now would simply be wrong. His mind rejected that option. McGarrett might see a brother in arms in him. That suited him for a number of reasons. He wouldn’t be a sexual object, which is something he’d been afraid of from the very beginning. But simultaneously it wasn’t altogether pleasant. Because he wanted the interest of others, even if it was vulgar and he didn’t altogether accept it. Without it he was just a divorcee with a kid, one whose life was already over.

He knew he was only buying himself time now. Grace needed an alpha, and no doubt Kono would realize the same thing before too long. Raising a child by yourself was hard, and he didn’t want his own stubbornness to lead to Rachel taking the kid away from him. He wasn’t ready to start dating anyone. It was much too soon for everyone involved. Grace wasn’t ready to get to know anyone new. And he didn’t want anyone to touch him, which might have been why McGarrett’s constant hovering in his personal space irritated him so much. The situation definitely wasn’t an easy one, but once it got through to him just how unreachable Steve really was - well, everything started to arrange itself a little bit better. At least it was all cleared up. He hated unresolved issues.

“You’re an asshole,” Danny informed him.

“And I probably won’t stop being one. At least not according to your criteria,” replied Steve, not offended in the least.

“I’m glad we had this talk,” he threw out.

Steve smiled at him, self-satisfied.

“I still don’t like your alpha business,” he informed him with complete seriousness.

***

Generally speaking he didn’t detect any change in Steve’s behavior. If anything, the man hesitated less when he touched his shoulder as he walked past to get himself some water. Victoria, of course, always reminded him that Kono or Charlie could bring him something, but Steve continued to come down to the bar whenever he felt like it. So Danny got the impression that the man simply liked their company. Danny himself didn’t go to the beach with them every time they had a day off, but Kono always found a moment to inform him just how big the waves they’d managed to catch before going to sleep had been.

It would have been practically paradise, if Rachel hadn’t stubbornly insisted on taking Grace to more and more expensive places. Actually, he probably should have warned her that the kid was starting to develop an aversion to money, and that it was all having the opposite of the desired effect, but it wasn’t in his interest for Grace to start liking Stan. He didn’t have anything against the guy. He’d even gotten a folder from him filled with quite nice little houses on the beach, but the prices were still alarming. Maybe Stan didn’t realize how low the alimony Rachel paid them was. When they’d been married she’d only worked at the bank. Her career hadn’t taken off until after the move to Hawaii. He probably could have appealed to have her alimony payments raised, but that would have meant hiring another lawyer. And he was damned scared the whole thing would turn against him. He didn’t intend to risk losing Grace for an extra couple hundred a month, if it turned out Hawaiian courts preferred alphas.

They’d promised him he’d be able to return to work, and he still couldn’t choke down the betrayal he felt about that. Working as a bartender wasn’t bad, but it was way below his qualifications. He was probably lucky he worked in such a decent place, but he got a bad taste in his mouth every time he came home in the morning to his daughter, who’d been looked after all night by some neighborhood girl. It wasn’t what he’d imagined his life would be. And he wasn’t sure he’d want to continue it indefinitely under similar conditions.

Grace’s birthday approached by huge bounds. Kono was already planning a surprise party at her own house. He hadn’t protested when she’d suggested that her cousins could all come over. Lori’s niece was supposed to secretly invite Grace’s class. He didn’t know the parents too well, because Rachel mainly took care of those things. Besides, they were mostly people from the upper classes in Hawaii. Private school had its own rules, and he didn’t doubt the parents of the other kids already realized who carried the wallet in their relationship. So far Grace hadn’t come home in tears, but on the other hand she had at least one secret from him with his own boss. He wasn’t sure if it worried or reassured him more.

But he had an excuse for his own secrets, and as soon as Rachel took Grace for the weekend, first thing in the morning, he showed up at the hotel they’d stayed at previously. Jay immediately recognized him, and she seemed almost surprised at the sight of him. Shirts and ties really weren’t a popular fashion choice in Hawaii, but when he wore them he felt more like a human and less like a failure at life. He’d checked the prices of those dolphin activities twice, but websites never filled him with confidence. He could have of course talked to Rachel about a joint gift for their daughter, but he wanted it to be just between them. Just him and Grace.

Jay smiled at him gently as he waited while the woman was occupied checking out some guests. The cool mist from the fountain really was pleasant. Whoever had planned the lobby had known what they were doing. Danny wasn’t great at appreciating beautiful things. Rachel had always complained about his taste, but practical things had always appealed to him.

“Welcome to Hotel Paradise,” said Jay.

“Hey,” he replied happily. “My daughter’s birthday is in a few days, and I’d like to bring her here to play with the dolphins some more, or whatever you guys call it…”

“Yes, of course,” replied Jay. “Would you like to reserve a room…?”

“Would it be possible without a reservation?” he asked frankly. “I heard that there’s a charge for just entering the pool complex, but that it was possible for locals. We haven’t lived here long, but…” he trailed off, waiting for the woman’s response.

The beta didn’t even twitch an eyelid.

“I’ll ask the manager, since I understand you’d like to only bring your daughter, and not reserve the whole complex for a party,” the woman hazarded.

“I would be very grateful,” he admitted.

Jay smiled at him as she lifted the phone receiver to her ear. He turned back towards the fountain, because he’d have loved to install that mist in their apartment. They didn’t have air conditioning. It hadn’t been a problem in New Jersey, but in Hawaii it was apparently a matter of life and death. He didn’t spend that much time inside the apartment anyway. And when he did it was mostly to sleep, while Grace was at school. But he woke up covered in sweat, sometimes still tired. He hated those days.

“Mr. Williams?” asked Jay uncertainly.

He turned back to the woman, expecting problems and a refusal. He had two back up plans. There was indeed a zoo on Oahu, which they still hadn’t visited. And Kono would undoubtedly be thrilled to go snorkelling at the reef with them.

But Steve McGarrett looked back at him with lightly furrowed brows, as if he didn’t know what Danny was doing here.

“Why didn’t you tell me you guys wanted to come back here?” asked the alpha, completely ignoring the fact that his employee didn’t plan on budging from her post this time.

Danny opened his mouth, and then closed it, because there really was no good response to that.

“Maybe another three days?” Steve offered quickly.

“I only promised her her birthday,” Danny replied hastily. “That would be possible, right?” he asked, glancing at Jay.

The beta turned out to be completely unhelpful. She looked at him as if she was trying to figure him out. And Danny really didn’t like that look.

“Wait, did you tell your employees to inform you when I show up here?” he asked frankly.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” scoffed Steve.

Danny raised a brow and looked at the beta, who didn’t even look embarrassed.

“Alright, that’s not important,” he said with a sigh. “Just forget about it,” he added, and started to withdraw.

He had no idea why the hell he’d even come here. They could just as easily paint the living room next weekend. Grace would be equally happy. She liked his friends from work. Maybe even more than the cops she’d met in New Jersey. His Hawaiian coworkers were a lot more colorful, and Kamekona always asked her opinion when it came to shrimp.

He didn’t get far before Steve cut him off.

“And Grace’s birthday?” asked Steve directly. “Why can’t I pay for it?” he asked frankly, and not so quietly that no one would have heard.

“Because she’s not your daughter,” he replied, though he probably shouldn’t have.

He wasn’t angry at Steve. He’d just figured that if the prices turned out to be too steep, that he’d still be able to back out of it with some dignity. With McGarrett looking over his shoulder it wasn’t that simple.

“So is Rachel paying for it?” asked Steve, and he didn’t seem to be offended by the previous observation.

“No,” he admitted.

“I want to pay for it,” said Steve.

“You can’t,” he replied, trying for calm.

“So I’m supposed to do something I need to apologize for first?” asked McGarrett.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” scoffed Danny.

“I’m ridiculous? You’re ridiculous. You’re probably the only person who doesn’t agree to let anyone else pay for things,” replied Steve. “It’s not normal. Just accept a damned gift, Danny, because your birthday is in two months, so it could just as well be a gift from me to you. Even though I really like Grace.”

“It doesn't seem like she likes you back, since last time she kicked you in the shin,” stated Danny.

And neither of them had apologized for it. Grace had only promised that next time she would carefully consider the consequences of that kind of action.

“She likes me. Otherwise she wouldn’t talk to me. Kicking somebody is just another way of acknowledging their existence,” replied Steve. “The rules are the same. You guys stay over. I’ll be gone. You have lots of fun. Don’t be stubborn for no reason, Danny. There’ll be less problems trying to figure out the bill,” added Steve, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Danny was under the impression the world had really stood on its head, since he was refusing to accept gifts. Even though he really couldn’t recover all of his damned dignity now. Besides, Grace really did like Steve, even if Danny didn’t want to admit it.

“Kono is throwing a surprise party for her in a week. Don’t buy a present. I’ll say the dolphins are from you again,” said Danny, “but it’s the last time,” he promised, and he wasn’t sure if he meant it more for himself or McGarrett.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for all the comments and kudos, everybody!
> 
> So I just realized that at some point I stopped translating 'zapewnie' as 'undoubtedly/doubtlessly/no doubt' and switched to 'probably,' which probably makes more sense, but it would have been nice if I'd made that decision consciously.
> 
> So, are there any fellow bilingual readers out there who'd like to help me beta this thing? Maybe ones a little more familiar with Polish idioms than I am?
> 
> In any case, thanks for reading!


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